Poppy Pomphrey reacted to the call with all her training. It was a testament to her training that she reacted so promptly, many other, lesser, healers would've had to double- and triple-check their bag before leaving, but Pomphrey only had to pick up her bag and leave the door, she was that good.
She sped up the corridors separating the Hospital Wing and the Headmasters' Quarters, her feet propelling her much faster then any student had ever seen her run, even when Harry had fallen the fifty feet from his broom. Her robes billowing out behind her, she arrived at the Headmasters' Quarters without any significant loss of breath.
"Open." She said bluntly to the Gargoyle guarding the stairs leading to the office that was occupied to the Headmasters of Hogwarts.
The Gargoyle jumped aside and beckoned Pomphrey forwards, up the stairs. As she ran up the stairs, she was surprised to see that once she was in the office, she moved much faster than she normally would have as she walked (sprinted) to the Headmaster currently sprawled out on the floor around his desk.
She kneeled down beside him and brought out her wand. She frantically ran every diagnostic spell she could think of and then added in a few minor anti-trauma spells that came to mind.
Albus Dumbledore couldn't be dead…He just couldn't! After all, whom else would the Light turn to? Who else would appease the House-Elves during the winter and summer months when nobody was around Hogwarts Castle for them to serve? Who else would keep the students safe from anyone of the various dark creatures that roamed the Forbidden Forest and other areas? Who else would she turn to when she needed help?
Albus Dumbledore had to survive! Even if it was the last thing she did. Even if she failed, she needed to have at least have tried! If the greatest Wizard of the modern era will die, it would not be from lack of effort on her part!
That, she swore with the utmost fervour.
.oOo.
Together, the two friends ambled towards the 'cottage' that Sirius had bought, talking all the way and hardly noticing the weight of the trunk held between them. After a few minutes of this, they arrived at the doorway to the house, which Harry immediately held open for Hermione and the trunk to pass through, himself darting though quickly afterwards.
They walked towards the kitchen, where Harry assumed Sirius and Remus had located themselves. They were not disappointed when they saw the two old friends talking meaningfully by the stove, a pot of some pasta left to its own devices on the aforementioned stove.
"Hello Hermione." Remus said quietly when he noticed his best student he'd ever had -not that there had been many to choose from though.
Hermione nodded in reply, but Sirius beat Remus to the point.
"So, Harry." He said genially. "Where did you learn to modify wards?" He asked conversationally, and, to the untrained eye or ear, unthreateningly.
Harry looked around nervously, rubbing the back of his neck. "Well… Um… Err…" He said, trying to start his sentence without having any success. "You won't believe me." He warned them before giving a small, sharp whistle.
At the noise, a magnificent bird appeared, coloured in red and gold the bird landed on Harry's shoulder, eyeing Hermione thoughtfully while ruffling his feather's regally.
"You wouldn't have believed me if I told you." Harry said to the two sputtering adults, who just remained in their original spots, gaping at the magnificent bird. "I ran into your bird in the library when I was searching for Ward Modification and he showed me where the Ward Modification book was. After I complained about how I couldn't understand any of what the author was trying to say, your bird jumped on my shoulder, and all I could think of was an icy knife plunging into my mind." Remus and Sirius looked between each other here, they knew that description. "A voice then explained it in very simple terms. I needed to tell the wards what to do in a language apart from English, as they're very old wards and can't understand English." At Sirius and Remus's exchanged perplexed looks he shrugged. "I don't get it either. So, I used the one that I could get at quickest, Parseltongue. §See§. Sirius and Remus jumped away from Harry at the snake language, but Hermione looked at him queerly.
"But, can't you not just speak Parseltongue?" She asked. "Don't you need some sort of snake stimuli?"
"Good question Hermione." Harry said. "I thought I needed a snake too. But, I don't anymore. That, or," he turned to the bird perched regally on his shoulder, "this bird has something to do with it."
The mentioned bird preened unconcernedly and Harry laughed softly.
Hermione frowned to herself and filed the information away for future use.
"Harry." Sirius said carefully. "That's not my bird." He looked carefully at the bird before jumping back in surprise. "That's professor Dumbledore's bird." He was interrupted, however, by a voice that seemed to come out of everywhere and yet nowhere.
'I BELONG TO NOBODY!'
The voice was deep, powerful and seemed like it should resonate, yet it did not. The voice just seemed to die out like it never was; no echo, no reverberation, nothing, it just started and stopped.
"Did you just hear that?" Sirius asked after a moment's pause.
The rest of the small group nodded, Harry looking at the bird curiously. "You don't think?" He asked after a moment.
"That's exactly what I think." Sirius said, not knowing that Harry was talking to the bird, before turning to face the bird. "What are you doing here?" The question in itself was not inflammatory, but the tone of voice used was not an especially endearing one.
The bird on Harry's shoulder just looked down his beak at Sirius, a look of royal disdain on his beak, of such a thing was possible. The bird then jumped off Harry's shoulder and took to the air, his majestic wings finally spreading to their full length, their bright gold's and crimson's getting the full effect of the conveniently sun-like magical lighting.
Sirius whistled, impressed by the display of majesty, and, with the rest of the group, followed the bird out of the room.
'Watch out, Fawkes.' Harry told the bird he'd become joined with through his mind, the sensation quiet unnatural feeling to him. He shuddered, he couldn't help it, it felt just too damn unnatural. That meant a lot too, he hardly ever swore. 'I don't know what they'll do to you.'
'Got it, chief.' Fawkes responded his deep voice cheeky.
'Jolly joker.'
With his parting shot taken care of, Harry carefully schooled his face blank and tried to look mildly interested as Sirius and Remus carried on a conversation with Hermione and him.
The bird landed on the oven and started preening, his eyes alight with mirth as the group just milled about, not knowing what to do.
'IT'S CALLED EATING'
The voice sounded again and again Sirius and Remus' heads turned so quickly towards Fawkes that Harry was sure that they had a strong crick in them. And, he had to stifle a laugh.
Sirius looked down at the food he'd been preparing and was surprised to see it totally unaffected by the wards being transferred and the forceful ejection of him and Remus. Shrugging, he took the bread, and the large pot of soup he'd been adding carrots to before he was forcibly removed from his cooking duties, and moved them over to the large table that was set up in the dining room.
The table was made of a nice oak, it was given a good finish and it appeared to be of the same piece of wood, not many smaller ones pieced together. However, one couldn't see this as it was covered with a gaudy table cloth that had a Halloween theme going on –which surprised Harry, until he thought about what Halloween was to him and then what it looked like to Muggles- and that was covered by many pot holders. Sitting the food down on the table, Sirius and Remus both started piling the foods on their plates and then started eating. Harry and Hermione, however, did not.
"What?" Asked Sirius through a mouthful of soup and bread, his voice sounding rather muffled.
"You forgot something." Hermione said pointedly. Harry, who knew Hermione's habits, winced at the realisation that Remus and Sirius probably weren't as strict as Hermione was, provided they even were practising, and were likely going to get an earful about disrespecting the maker, or something to that respect.
"What?" Sirius choked out before Remus's elbow jabbed him in the ribs, hard.
"Grace." Remus said.
"What's your old flame have to do with anything?"
"Not that Grace. You know, you say Grace before you eat." Remus said, chastised.
"Grace." Sirius said, before going back to his eating, forcing Hermione to groan into her hands.
.oOo.
The wards at Privet Drive were gone, and, thus, the relatively quiet life that the Dursleys had been enjoying for the past thirteen years of their life. However, this all changed once the wards had been transferred to the residence of Sirius Black. At the feel of being able to apparate to a forbidden residence, the many journalists of the Wizarding world all disappeared from where ever they were, no matter where they were or what they were doing, and appeared in the front lawn of the once peaceful residence of one Mister Vernon Dursley, who had been looking forward to a nice relaxing evening. That quixotic dream disappeared once the newsies appeared.
"Is this the residence of Harry Potter?"
"Is it true that you treat Harry Potter like royalty?"
"Can you give us an exclusive interview with Harry Potter?"
"Do you consider Harry Potter –"
"GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE!"
The last, of course, came from Mister Dursley after the journalists started bombarding him with numerous questions about his nephew that, if he'd had his way, he would've abandoned in a very remote area with only the clothes on his back.
Not that the goddamn freaks would've let him.
.oOo.
The Newsies weren't the only ones to feel the falling of the wards surrounding Number Four Privet Drive; the remaining Death Eaters who had once claimed that they were not still loyal to the Dark Lord felt it.
Lucius Malfoy, the head of the house Malfoy and, quite possibly, the most highly trusted Death Eater of the lot of them felt the disturbance, and smiled. He would kill the Potter-brat and, in the same stroke, show his loyalty to his long-dead master.
It would be perfect; daring, terror inducing, and easy. He would just apparate to Number Four Privet Drive and blast the Potter-brat with the killing curse. Boom! It would be done quickly, and quietly. He would then shout out the Dark Mark curse as he apparated away.
He disappeared from his manor with a small pop.
.oOo.
The Newsies were not to be dissuaded from their mission to learn about the home life of Harry Potter, they were currently camped out in front of the lawn that the Dursleys were proud of. They were split along lines of where they worked, there were the Freelancers on one side, the Daily Prophet workers on another, the Quibbler workers on yet another, and the Assorted Smaller Paper's workers on a final side. They were all quite adept with their wands, having to break into many homes in order to get the latest scoop or having to defend themselves from the occasional victim of libel would demand satisfaction on the field of honour.
None of them were up to the level of a Death Eater, but en masse they were a force to be reckoned with, and it was that workers of The Daily Prophet found themselves fighting back to back with workers from The Quibbler against a lone Death Eater.
"Stupfy!" Cried a journalist as another cried "Reducto!" and yet another cried out "Impedmentia!" The three spells lanced out and hit the Death Eater in the chest and in the head at the same time.
First, the Death Eater stopped in place, looking slightly bewildered, then he started falling backwards –due to the stunner- finally, his head was blown off –totally annihilated, more like- in a small cloud of blood and gray matter.
Later inspection of the body found him to be the Lord Malfoy, Lucius Malfoy.
His funds are currently under investigation by investigative aurors.
.oOo.
After the meal, Harry started putting the plates away by instinct, his hands reaching out and grabbing their edges in a well-practiced maneuver. He missed the look that passed between Remus and Sirius at this along with the small sigh of contempt from the corner. As he walked towards the kitchen with the stack of four plates and their utensils, he heard Sirius trying to tune the wireless.
"…Lucius…A Death Eater…Former…Of Harry Potter…Actions are going to be taken against the Malfoy family in the near future. So says the office of Amelia Bones, head of the DMLE." The voice slipped in and out of static until Sirius had the wireless tuned in.
Harry heard enough to put it all together. Lucius Malfoy attacked Privet Drive in full Death Eater regalia, was killed by something –Most likely a gun Dudley sneaked in the house, Harry thought wryly- and action was finally going to be taken against the Malfoy family, though Draco was probably going to just buy them off like his father did.
He felt an immense feeling of guilt, like a giant weight pushing down on his shoulders. Though, it was given a bite by the grief he felt, however fleeting, for the Dursleys death.
Harry continued through the chores that he was so used to doing, trying to hide from the guilt in the menial labor, a tactic that had served him well in the past. He tried to hide from the crushing guilt as one would a particularly nasty animal that one had the great misfortune of annoying, hiding behind the rocks and hoping that it was dumb enough to think that one had left and turned around.
Harry did the dishes by hand, a technique that he'd found oddly calming. He then cleaned the silverware by hand, and was on his way cleaning the pots and pans that Sirius had used to make the stew in by hand before he was drawn away from his tasks by Hermione, who'd decided that he'd done enough.
She led him to the living room and made him sit on the couch, she sat down next to him and was silent for a few moments. Then, forced to look at his guilt and –albeit small- grief full in the face for the first time that day, he started crying. Not just your normal cry, but a full blown, dammit-that-hurts-like-a-big-dog-get-me-medical-attention-right-the-bloody-hell-now-my-mother-died-just-minutes-earlier-too!-cry, not that many people have those in their lifetimes.
He just sat there and cried, he wasn't particularly loud about it, just silent tears that ran down his cheeks and his face was very flushed. When Hermione opened up her arms to him, he almost leapt into them, holding her tight, he continued to cry, but on somebody's shoulder this time.
After what seemed like hours, his grip finally relented. "Want to talk about it?" Hermione asked kindly, not in the least disturbed by her overly wet shoulder.
"No…" Harry said weakly. "I shouldn't be guilty about their deaths really, but I got them into this, and now? They're dead." He gave a hollow laugh, and Hermione found herself thinking that he was older then he looked or was. "But, dammit! Lucius was obviously after me, but he killed my Aunt and Uncle before he was able to be killed himself." Hermione did not appear to be flustered at all by the profanity that escaped his lips, it seemed proper at the time. "I just hope-" But, whatever he hoped was cut off by some clearing of the throat by Sirius that sounded similar to the former Professor Umbridge's fake cough.
Harry jumped up, wand drawn, before he remembered where he was, and who he was supposed to be. He sheepishly put away his wand and looked up at Sirius questioningly. "Yes?"
"Are you all done here?" Sirius asked. "Because I would really like to use my couch that I bought." The slight stresses on the word 'I' did not go unnoticed by anybody.
Harry extended a hand to Hermione –who took it- and pulled her up. He then gestured to the couch with an exaggerated bow. "All yours, milord." He said in a fake aristocratic voice.
"Thank you." Sirius said, satisfied. He then walked over to the couch, lay down on it, and fell asleep within minutes.
"Wow." Hermione said, surprised that anybody could fall asleep that quickly.
"Yeah." Said Harry, just to not be contrary, his guilt still coursing though his veins, but not as violently as before. He made to move away, but Hermione grabbed his arm, tightly.
"You know where the library is?" She asked him.
"First Floor." Said a tired voice from the couch.
"Thank you." Hermione said as she ran from the Living Room up the stairs to –presumably- the library.
Harry sighed and followed, not that he had a choice, Hermione was still gripping his arm tightly.
.oOo.
Bedtime had come blessedly early, the night permeating the house and making it darker then ink was black. Harry had found his way to his bedroom, which he complained about being too nice. He thought it nicer then his Hogwarts four poster, and, in fact, it was an almost exact replica of it.
Finally relaxing, Harry still felt the guilt, but it was somehow kept at bay. He allowed himself to slip into a fitful sleep and closed his eyes.
I stand in the Department of Mysteries corridor. It is familiar to me, I know this place. I walk along the corridor, trying to make it to the door. My breath pounding in my ears, I push no the door…It doesn't open.
I pound on the door…It must open, it must!
FLASH
I stand in my bedroom at Number Four Privet Drive, my arm is outstretched, trying to reach…
"Its your fault that we're dead…" My Uncle whispers insidiously. "If it weren't for you, I would still be alive, Dudley would still be alive, and Petunia would still be alive."
I hear him drawing something out of his pockets, a second later I feel the metal end of a belt hit me in the posterior.
I scream.
"Harry? Harry?" He heard the voice as if from a long way off. Swimming his way to consciousness, Harry tried to bring himself to the present. He latched onto the voice and hoped to find himself in his bedroom when he awoke.
"Harry? You'd better wake up, otherwise…I don't know what I'll do but you'll regret it!" He could here fear in her voice, but he couldn't think of why…His mind was too slow.
"Urgh…" He managed to say before he was hugged tightly, forcing the breath out of him. "Hermione?" He said in a sort of strangled voice.
"Oh…Sorry." She said, abashed. "You were writhing and thrashing in your sleep…Are you okay?"
"I am now." Harry said, looking unconsciously over to his dresser where he knew Fawkes to be…Except he wasn't there.
"Do you know where Fawkes is?"
'YOU CALLED?' An immense voice rang out in the silence, dying away without a sound.
"Yes, Fawkes." Harry said tiredly. "Could you somehow keep the dreams away, tonight?" Harry asked the bird.
'That'll take time.' Fawkes said quietly. 'I could, but not tonight. Just live with them!'
"Just thought I'd ask." Harry said, shrugging.
The bird flew up to the dresser and landed there, every serene, looking down on the world with a sort of regal disdain. Harry looked up at the bird for a long minute before lying back down. He then turned down the flames that lit the room and fell asleep.
Hermione, worried about Harry –and too tired to do anything- grabbed her blanket from where she'd left it on the floor and curled up atop of Harry's bed, her blanket covering her.
That was how Sirius found the next morning.
.oOo.
"Tell me, Wormtail." The Snake-Man wheezed. "Is it true…Is Lucius dead?"
"Yes…Yes, milord. The man thought that he'd show that he was still loyal to you by killing the Potter-brat." Wormtail took a moment to organize his thoughts. "I do not believe that he knew that you were alive."
"Ah, Wormtail…You are a nice comic distraction when times are at their roughest." The Snake-Man sighed.
"Oh no, milord. Not that!"
"Crucio!"
.oOo.
"Harry! Hermione!" Sirius called up the stairwell at promptly 6:30AM, only to receive no answer. "Harry! Hermione!" He repeated. "Hmmm…Must still be sleeping." He decided.
Sirius walked up the stairs that led to the second floor and called again. "Harry! Hermione!" Still, nothing.
Sirius decided to wake Harry first, seeing as he was his Godson.
Imagine his surprise when he saw the two teens lying down in the same bed, somewhat curled up together. "Don't panic, Padfoot…Don't panic!" He said to himself. "Don't Panic…"
He looked down at the two teens and did just that.
"WHAT IN THE NAME OF MERLIN!" He shouted. "ARE YOU TWO THINKING!"
That woke Harry, who looked around groggily before doing a double take at the appearance of his best friend. "What? Sirius!?" The last was an exclamation of joy as he saw his godfather. He then looked down at the sleeping form of his best friend and gently shook her shoulder.
"Hermione…Hermione…" He said. "It's time to wake up!" He said the last part anxiously, knowing what it must look like to his Godfather. "Wake. Up." He said very clearly, right next to her ear.
"Don' wanna." She said tiredly.
"I really didn't want to do this." Harry sighed before bringing his hands to bear and started tickling her mercilessly. This had the desired effect and woke her up. Through her laughter, half-hearted attempts to retaliate, and her attempts to figure out why she was: A, sharing a bed with her best friend. And B, sharing a home with Sirius and company, she fended off Harry enough to point out that she was fully awake, he could stop now.
Harry complied, leaving Hermione to wonder where he'd learned where she was ticklish, but banishing that thought for later.
"Who are you?" Sirius said, turning to Harry, suspicion clear in his voice.
"Harry James Potter, your Godson." Harry said, clearly at a loss as to why Sirius was so suspicious.
"Really." Sirius said conversationally.
"Yes." Harry said.
"Then, explain to me what a thirteen year old boy would be doing in bed with a member of the female persuasion. There is no way that you would be doing that." Sirius said the last part with a shudder, obviously thinking it some great sin if two friend who were of the opposite gender slept on the same bed.
"Well…" Harry said, his words trailing off. "You wouldn't believe me, but I had a nightmare."
"Yes, that's how most of this starts." Sirius said with the air of a pre-school teacher explaining to a class that red and blue are two different colors.
"Then, when I woke up, I saw that Hermione was in my room, evidently I had woken her. I was told that I was thrashing in my sleep and she was worried."
"Yes, that's also a major factor in this sort of thing too." Said Sirius with the same annoyingly patient air.
"Well, I fell asleep not a two minutes after waking up. Then, I woke up just now and I was surprised to see her there!" Harry finished.
"Likely story." Sirius drawled.
"What?"
At this point Hermione, feeling sorry for him, took him aside and whispered in his ear. Harry turned very red indeed after that. "He thinks that we…" His voice trailed off again.
"Yep." Hermione said, red also.
Harry almost laughed, he would've if he was his fifteen-year old self in his familiar surroundings, but he didn't think that a thirteen-year old just laughing about that would be taken kindly.
Just then, Remus Lupin walked in the door, holding his Daily Prophet in one hand he chanced to look in, and then put two and two together. Remus hurried to come in and help out Sirius.
It just seemed that the Morning at Sirius's 'Cottage' was getting off to a rough start.
A/N: So sorry that I didn't update until now. I've been away from home a ton these past few weeks, and I've been playing (as well as modding) Knights of the Old Republic a lot more as well. That, coupled with my muse being away on an indefinite leave of absence, has made it impossible for me to complete this in a timely manner. You will notice that this is the last chapter in the story so far. I deleted the after chapters, since I'm going to go back and re-do the rest of the story. So, this is where it is at. Past readers (I'm looking at you, Pstibbons, You too, Raven6) will notice differences with this and the previously uploaded version.
I'm sorry to say that my updates will, hopefully, pick up after School starts. Call me crazy, but I type more during the school year.
It's been almost a year, and here it is, only in the 4th chapter, how does that make ANY sense? If I could get off my arse and write more…But that's just crazy talk.
If anybody would be willing to Beta this story that would be greatly appreciated. I also will need a brit-picker, God only knows how many mistakes I've made with this story. So, if somebody would be willing to do any of said roles, please PM me, or e-mail me.
Thanks for your patience and cooperation,
Eldar.
Post Script: Thanks to both Pstibbons and Raven6, and the rest of the readers who've reviewed and/or been with the story since near its inception. Without your reviews, I don't think I would've gone through and redone it.