Summary: Harry has a long talk with Sirius - and makes several discoveries.
Author's Notes: A lot of talk in this part...but there will be plenty of action in the next part, I promise! Disclaimer: These characters belong to JK Rowling, except for a couple I've added.
The next few days were very difficult. Harry had been dreading going down to the Great Hall for meals, and his fears were justified. Everyone seemed to have heard about the rift between Ron and Hermione, and, since Harry was their closest friend, naturally everyone thought he was the best person to get details from. People kept sidling up to him and asking him questions he really didn't want to answer. It was the best topic of gossip Gryffindor House had had for ages.
Nobody dared to ask Hermione anything. She went about her Head Girl duties as normal, her head held high and her lips pressed together - Harry suspected this was to stop them from trembling. But to anyone who didn't know her quite so well, she seemed more or less as usual, although she did snap rather bad-temperedly at some first-years who were pushing and shoving each other in the corridor.
Outwardly, Ron looked more affected by the break-up. His face was pale, and he had dark circles under his eyes. He snapped at anyone who tried to start a conversation with him, until they gave up and left him alone. The only times he looked happy were when he was shadowing Miss Messina, like a faithful dog. Harry didn't know which was worse - the slack-jawed, Charybdis-worshipping Ron who didn't seem to care about Hermione at all, or the miserable, bad-tempered Ron who clearly cared very much. On the whole, he preferred the latter, but both were hard to live with. Dean, Seamus and Neville had all started complaining about Ron being a pain to share a room - or a class - with these days.
On Thursday afternoons the Gryffindor and Slytherin seventh-years had Care of Magical Creatures together. Harry followed Hermione out of the Great Hall after lunch. She hadn't been talking much in the last few days, but he and the others had been doing their best to chat to her in a friendly way, as if nothing was wrong; to let her know she wasn't alone. As the seventh-years reached the front steps, heading out into the grounds, Harry looked across at Ron, who was walking several feet apart from the rest of them, looking gloomy again. Harry wondered if it would be any good having another go at talking sense into Ron today.
"Potter!" Professor McGonagall's voice startled Harry and made him turn round and look back towards the castle's front doors. He wasn't the only one who turned round to look. "A moment of your time, please, I need to speak with you."
Draco Malfoy was nearby with his hulking sidekicks, Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle, also on their way to Care of Magical Creatures. "Oooh, Potter, what have you been up to now?" Malfoy smirked. "Don't tell me the Head Boy's in trouble again - really, I'm shocked." Crabbe and Goyle sniggered appreciatively. Harry gave Malfoy a withering look.
"Yeah. Ha ha." It wasn't worth wasting more time on Malfoy, particularly not with Professor McGonagall standing by the front door, tapping her foot impatiently. Harry turned to Hermione and Neville. "You go on. I'll be along when she's finished with me."
Hermione and Neville nodded, and set off again with the others. Harry ran up the steps towards Professor McGonagall. As soon as he reached her, she beckoned to him and set off briskly, walking back through the Entrance Hall. "You have a visitor, Potter."
"A visitor?" Harry asked politely, speeding up to walk with her.
"Yes. Your godfather. Sirius Black." Professor McGonagall sniffed. "He is in my office. He seems to think that what he wishes to discuss with you is important. And, since he now works for the Ministry of Magic -" She did not finish the sentence.
"Oh." Whatever Ginny had said in her letter to Sirius, had it been enough to make him come straight to Hogwarts? Still, Harry reflected, with the atmosphere as it was, he would be quite glad of the chance to ask Sirius for his advice. He looked sideways at Professor McGonagall, and decided that this might be a good chance to ask her about something else. "Professor - can I ask you something?"
"You may ask, Potter. Whether I choose to answer or not is another matter," said Professor McGonagall, regarding him astringently, but not unkindly.
"The college in Slovakia Hermione was thinking about applying for - Petrzalka? Do you think she'd get in? And do you think she'd be happy so far away from - from all her friends?"
Harry half expected Professor McGonagall to refuse to answer him, but instead she said consideringly, "Well, that's really Miss Granger's business. But yes, I think she has a good chance of being accepted. She gave me her application form yesterday."
"She's already applied?" Harry said in alarm. But they had reached Professor McGonagall's office. She opened the door, said "Perhaps you'd like to take your godfather for a walk around the grounds when you've finished in here, Potter," and walked away.
"You know," said Sirius's voice, "even though I'm a respectable employee of the Ministry of Magic these days, I have the feeling Professor McGonagall still isn't very keen on me."
"Sirius!" Harry grinned at his guardian, who was lounging in Professor McGonagall's own armchair. Sirius Black smiled back at him. More than three years had gone by since Sirius had escaped from Azkaban, the wizard prison, and he looked a different person to the gaunt skeleton Harry had first met. He was still thin, but his skin had a healthy colour, and his intense dark eyes were alight and alert. He wore his dark hair clipped very short, having once told Harry he'd had enough of looking like a Yeti during his time in Azkaban. He was tall and wiry, and -
"You're wearing Muggle clothes," said Harry with interest.
"Part of my job," said Sirius nonchalantly. He waved Harry to a chair. "I had a letter from Ginny."
"I know. She told me she'd written to you." Harry sat down. "What did she tell you, exactly?"
"That you have a very glamorous new teacher, and that your scar bothers you when she looks at you," said Sirius. "And that Ron seems to have developed a crush on her."
Harry sighed. "Developed a crush? He's besotted! He follows her around and he won't listen to anything I say."
"What does Hermione think about that?" asked Sirius with interest.
"She's miserable. Ron's miserable. They won't even speak to each other now. They had a big row but it didn't stop him from going around with Miss Messina. Oh, and *she* asked him to call her Charybdis." Harry pulled a face. "Now Hermione's applied to go to wizard college in Slovakia. And the rest of us have to live with the terrible atmosphere."
"Well, I'm sorry to hear that, but I'm more concerned about this scar business, Harry. Didn't you tell me once that it was usually a warning of danger?"
"Yes." Harry looked round Professor McGonagall's office. Although she was not there, her influence seemed to fill the room and it made him uncomfortable discussing his problems with Sirius in there.
Sirius, sensing this, suggested, "Shall we go for a walk? Then you can finish telling me your troubles."
As they walked down the front steps, Harry remarked, "I'm supposed to be in Care of Magical Creatures now, I'm surprised McGonagall let me off the class to talk to you."
"I told her it was important Ministry of Magic business," Sirius confessed, looking slightly guilty.
"So what exactly *have* you been doing for the Ministry?" Harry asked him, as they walked towards the herb gardens. "You've never told me what your job involves."
"That's because I'm not supposed to tell you all about it, Harry," Sirius said. "You know Ron's dad has to keep some of his work secret from his family, don't you? Well, some of the things I've been doing are - let's say - confidential."
"But you have been travelling a lot again, haven't you?" Harry asked.
"Yes." Sirius stopped walking and turned to face Harry. "Look, Harry, I appreciate that you don't like being kept in the dark. You're not a child any more. I'll just tell you that I've been doing some - undercover - work for the Ministry. I have contacts in various places, and I've been trying to find out from different sources what Voldemort and his followers are planning now."
"You mean you're a spy?" asked Harry. "Wow."
"Well, yes, technically, I'm a spy," agreed Sirius, looking sheepish. "But keep it to yourself please, or my cover will be thoroughly blown." They walked on, and he added, "Luckily, most of those who practice the Dark Arts don't recognise me these days, and those who do don't suspect that someone with my dubious past would be trusted to do a top-secret job for the Ministry."
"I wouldn't mind being a spy," said Harry thoughtfully. "It's not as exciting as you probably think," Sirius assured him. "And let me remind you that everyone in the wizarding world knows who Harry Potter is, so your chances of going undercover successfully would be minimal!"
"Yeah, I suppose you're right," Harry said. "Anyway, I'm quite glad Ginny wrote to you. I could do with some advice about all this."
"Ginny seemed very worried about the scar business," said Sirius. "I think she cares a lot about you."
Harry coloured. "Um. Yeah."
"Does that mean you don't feel the same way about her?" asked Sirius, amused by Harry's embarrassment.
"No - I really like her - it's just - I'm never quite sure what to say -" Harry stammered. He really didn't want to discuss this with Sirius.
"Oh, the joys of being seventeen," said Sirius, and then decided to change the subject and spare Harry's blushes. "Anyway, I must pass this on to you." He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a package. "The book Hermione wanted."
"Oh, yeah." Relieved, Harry unwrapped the sheet of paper which was loosely covering the book. He read the title aloud. "*The Magic of Music, by Charybdis Messina.*" Harry grimaced as he looked at the photograph on the back of the book - Charybdis Messina, in a flowing white robe, strumming her lute and smiling enchantingly at the camera.
Sirius looked at the picture over Harry's shoulder. "She's pretty stunning, I have to admit."
Harry had just remembered something. "Sirius - I haven't told you yet - the other night, Ginny and I were there when Torquil de Lisle went into one of his trances. You remember him?" Sirius nodded. "He said something, and Ginny and I think it might be about Miss Messina."
"What did he say?"
Harry screwed up his face, trying to remember the exact words. "*Beautiful but deadly...There is a dark danger...don't listen to the music of the Siren...*"
"The Siren?" Sirius asked, looking suddenly alert. "Are you sure that's what he said?"
"Yeah, I think so."
He looked from Harry back to the smiling photograph of Charybdis Messina. "The Siren...I wonder, now...that would explain a lot."
"What?" Harry was getting frustrated. "What is a Siren, anyway?"
Sirius was pacing up and down. "A Siren, Harry, is a woman with special magical powers. She can use music to enchant people and make them do what she wants. And - " Sirius paused, and gave Harry a meaningful look " - a Siren can bewitch men to be hopelessly in love with her, so that they will carry out her orders."
"You mean," said Harry slowly, "she may have bewitched Ron?"
"It seems quite likely."
"But what orders would she want him to carry out?" Harry asked.
"I'm worried that she may be taking orders herself, from someone else," said Sirius, frowning. "I've heard a few rumours lately that there are Sirens among those practising the Dark Arts, among the followers of -"
"Voldemort!" gasped Harry. "You mean, she might be here doing something for Voldemort?"
"It's possible," said Sirius. "In which case, Ron is in bigger trouble than you thought. Let's get back to the school - I need to speak to a few people, and then - I want to meet Miss Charybdis Messina."
Harry nodded, and together they hurried back towards the main entrance to the castle.
End of Part 4.