A/N:

I promised another update!

I don't own HP ;(


Dinner was an easy affair. Tom put three tables together so that the ten of us could eat together, all retelling stories and exchanging news and small talk. By the end of the dinner, and my stories of the days of the Marauders, I was well respected by the twins.

"How're we getting to King's Cross tomorrow, Dad?" asked Fred, already inhaling his chocolate pudding.

"The Ministry's providing a couple of cars," Arthur replied, earning glances from everyone at the table. Percy broke the silence.

"Why?

"It's because of you, Perce," George nodding seriously, studying his desert. "And there'll be little flags on the hood, with HB on them-"

"-for Humongous Bighead," Fred finished. Everyone, excluding Molly and Percy, snorted into their pudding. Percy scowled at the twins before looking back up at his father.

"Why are the Ministry providing cars, Father?" he asked again in a rather dignified voice. Arthur's ears reddened, a sure sign that he felt pressured.

"Well, as we haven't got one anymore," he stammered. "-and as I work there, they're doing me a favor-" Molly interrupted, saving her husband.

"Good thing too; you realize how much luggage you've all got? A nice sight you'd be on the Muggle Underground… You're all packed, aren't you?" she asked sternly, her eyes resting on each of her children.

"Ron hasn't put all his new things in his trunk, he's just dumped them all on my bed," Percy sighed sounding awfully pained for such a small thing.

"You'd better go and pack properly, Ron. We won't have the time in the morning," Molly called down the table. Ron scowled at Percy.

After dinner, the children all went upstairs to pack sure they were packed. Arthur, Molly, and I talked downstairs, discussing what we were going to tell Harry.

"He's got a right to know," I argued.

"I agree; it makes no sense not to tell him!" Arthur argued with his wife. Molly was adamant on not telling Harry about Sirius. She believed, more than Arthur, that Sirius was guilty.

"The truth would terrify him!" she exclaimed. "Do you really want to send Harry back to school with that hanging over him? For heaven's sake, he's happy not knowing!"

"I don't want to make him miserable! I want to put him on his guard!" Arthur retort. I sighed exasperatedly.

"He doesn't need to be on his guard! I've told you more times than I can count! Sirius is innocent!" I was ignored.

"You know what Harry and Ron get up to, wandering off by themselves. They've ended up in the Forbidden Forest twice! But he can't do that this year! When I think what could've happened to him before Rose picked him up, I'm prepared to bet that he would've been dead before the Ministry found him."

"I didn't 'pick him up'! I knew he was there! I was watching the place and nobody got close to him!"

"They say Sirius Black is mad, and maybe he is, but he was clever enough to escape from Azkaban, and that's supposed to be impossible. It's been three weeks, and no one's seen hide or hair of him, and I don't care what Fudge keeps telling the Prophet, we're no nearer catching Black than inventing self-spelling wands. The only thing we know for sure is what Black's after-"

"And you're wrong about that too! I've told you what he's after but you won't listen to me!" I shouted, indignant. I've heard their suspicions that Sirius was out to kill Harry. That was ridiculous. That man loves Harry almost as much as I do.

"But Harry will be perfectly safe at Hogwarts," Molly countered, again ignoring me. Arthur scoffed quietly.

"We thought Azkaban was perfectly sage. If Black can break out of Azkaban, he can break into Hogwarts!"

"But no one's really sure he's after Harry!" Molly exclaimed.

"Thank you, someone that makes-" I began as Arthur slammed his fist onto the table.

"How many times do I have to tell you, Molly? The press didn't report it because Fudge wanted to keep it quiet, but he went to Azkaban the night Black escaped. The guards told him that he'd been talking in his sleep for a while now. Always the same words: 'He's at Hogwarts… He's at Hogwarts.' Black is deranged, and I don't blame him. The man's been locked up for twelve years! But that doesn't change the fact that he wants to finish what You-Know-Who started."

I heard movement at the door and saw a bottle of rat tonic laying abandoned under the table, close to where Ron had sat. I sighed, wondering how much Harry had overheard.

"It's late, Arthur, Molly. Go on up to sleep," I coaxed. "We have to leave early tomorrow, you know. Trains to catch and all that," I smiled. Arthur sighed tiredly, pushing his chair in before following Molly towards the stairs. Pausing with a hand on the railing, Molly turned back at me.

"It's good to see you again, Rose. I've missed you," she smiled quietly. I smiled back.

"I've missed you too, Mrs. Weasley. Now go to sleep, big day tomorrow," I replied. Arthur nodded, ushering his wife up the stairs and to their room. I sighed. "Hey Tom!" I called. The man poked a head out of a door. "Is there any tea left?"


A/N:

This is a transitory chapter of sorts, so I'll be updating twice because a 900-word update doesn't really count as a chapter in my opinion, especially because I have the entire thing finished.

Don't forget to review! I read and appreciate each one!

^.^ Susie ^.^