"Are the Death Eaters gone?" Remus asked Sirius who just finished giving orders.
"No. They're lingering around and we don't know why. We have no idea where they are right now either, just that they're here. One minute. Has anyone seen Brooks? I need him," Sirius answered then walked over to Tonks, Evans, and Kingsley.
"Haven't seen him, sir. Not since we came from Azkaban duty," Evans replied and Sirius ran a hand through his hair.
"All right. Get back to where I put you and tell me if Brooks shows up," Sirius walked back to Remus who finished talking with Dumbledore.
"The Death Eaters are—" Just as Remus was going to say something, there was a huge explosion that shook the building. A few screams came and Sirius looked around violently.
"What the hell?" they heard Tonks shout.
"Kingsley, Tonks, Moody! Come with me. Evans, Dawlish, Johnson, Rogers, and Bones! Stay here in case anyone comes," Sirius ordered. "Where the hell is Brooks?" he added angrily.
He shook his head and got Kingsley, Moody, and Tonks to follow him, and they began to walk to where the explosion had happened. Just as they were going to turn a corner, there was a flash of green and about ten Death Eaters appeared. Sirius and the others spun around in time to see the Death Eaters setting a bunch of stuff on fire.
"Oh, hell no!" Kingsley groaned.
"Expelliarmus!" Moody yelled and a Death Eater's wand flew into his hands.
"Snap it," Sirius told Moody quickly who obeyed. "Stupefy!" Sirius shouted and the Death Eaters turned on him.
"Crucio!" Lucius Malfoy sent his curse but missed
"Impedimenta!" Tonks cried and hit one of the Death Eaters. She ran over, stunned him, and tied him.
"Reducto!" Bellatrix Lestrange shouted, her curse heading for Sirius.
"Protego!" Sirius yelled just in time. They all fought for twenty minutes. Tonks got cut on the leg, Kingsley got stunned and hit his head while he fell. Sirius also got hit with a cutting curse on his leg, chest, his left hand, his right shoulder, and on the side of his head.
"Stupefy!" Sirius shouted but missed his target.
"Sectumsempra!" Bellatrix cried and the hex hit Sirius who fell to the floor.
"Oh my God!" Tonks shrieked when she saw deep cuts open up on her cousin and began to bleed freely.
"Call Severus. Quickly," Dumbledore instructed. Remus ran to the fire and called Snape who appeared a few seconds later. Snape ran over to Sirius, took out his wand, and muttered the counter curse and Sirius' cuts closed up.
"Stupefy!" Lucius yelled and it hit Sirius. Lucius, Bellatrix, and the other Death Eaters smirked then Disapparated.
"God damn it!" Moody growled.
"Sirius has lost a lot of blood. He will have to rest and eat a lot for a couple days. He'll live though. He's lucky. See you later," Snape explained then Flooed back to Hogwarts.
"Since St. Mungo's is destroyed, let's bring Sirius home," Remus said and they all went back to number twelve and put Sirius in his room. They called Madam Pomfrey and Mrs. Weasley who looked over Sirius and gave him potions.
"So, how are you going to tell Harry about Sirius?" Bill Weasley asked Remus who sighed.
"That's what I'm scared about doing," Remus said and Bill chuckled.
"He'll find out no matter what. He's a really smart kid," Bill pointed out and Remus nodded.
"That's the problem. He's too smart for his own good," Remus replied and Bill started to laugh harder, nodding in agreement. "How bad is it?" he asked when Madam Pomfrey walked over to him, Bill, Tonks, and Kingsley.
"He'll be just fine. He just needs rest, lots of food, and lots of fluids. He'll be better in about a week. I've given him a Dreamless Sleep Potion and a Pain-Free Potion. Try not to put too much stress on him," Madam Pomfrey explained to Remus who breathed deeply in relief.
"Are we gonna be able to tell him about the Death Eater we caught?" Tonks wondered..
"You mean the spy you caught?" the nurse confirmed. They all nodded. "Yes, you can. He'll be fine. I'm going to leave a Pain-Free Potion, even though I'm sure you already have some, and if he needs it, give it to him. Everything's absolutely fine. Bye," Madam Pomfrey smiled then went downstairs to Floo to Hogwarts.
"Well, we're all gonna head out. We'll be back maybe tomorrow," Kingsley said and all the others agreed.
"Okay, well, bye everyone. Thanks for the help," Remus said and they all went downstairs to Floo.
Either Harry hears it from me or he reads about it in the paper tomorrow. Well, it's already one-thirty in the morning. He'll be asleep, Remus thought to himself as he headed to bed.
Would the time matter to you if you were Harry? Another voice in his head that sounded like Sirius said.
Perfect. I'm having an argument with my head. I'm going to see Dumbledore tomorrow anyways, Remus thought again.
Harry will read about it before you get to him, the other voice said again.
"I should get to sleep," Remus mumbled and he went to bed.
He's gonna find out, the other voice that sounded like Sirius said in a sing-song voice. Remus rolled his eyes at himself and fell asleep.
The next day, Harry sat across from his friends and listened to them argue.
"Merlin was from the sixteenth century, Ron, not the eighteenth! Professor Binns taught us that a couple weeks ago!" Hermione said angrily to Ron. Thankfully, at that moment, the owls came in with the mail. Hermione grabbed for her Daily Prophetand opened it.
"So, Potter. How is your precious Black doing?" Malfoy stated as he, Crabbe, and Goyle walked up behind the trio, making the Gryffindors turn around.
"What are you on about, Malfoy?" Harry glared at Malfoy and his friends who smirked then walked away. As Harry and Ron glared at the Slytherins' retreating backs, Hermione was reading an article in the paper then gasped, making the boys turn back to her.
"Oh Merlin," Ron said as he scanned the article.
"What?" Harry asked.
"Uh—uh—umm—well—why—" Hermione stuttered and glanced at Ron as they both looked worried.
"What?" Harry reached for the paper and looked at the article.
Attack on St. Mungo's Hospital!
Late last night, Death Eaters attack St. Mungo's hospital. Aurors arrived on the scene immediately and there ended up being a fight. Many people were killed. These Deaths include Aurors Eric Smith and Mark Johnson. While in this battle, Head Auror, Sirius Black got hit with a curse and it happened to be a killing curse. Black as seen being taken out of the Ministry…
Harry looked up at his friends, all the colour falling from his face.
"No," he breathed.
"Harry—" Hermione said softly. Harry dropped the paper and ran out of the Hall and up to Dumbledore's office. He stopped at the gargoyle.
"Umm—damn it! Uh, sherbet lemon," Harry guessed and was relieved when the gargoyle moved. He ran up the stairs and fell through the door.
"Hey, Harry," Remus said quietly, approaching and kneeling before Harry on the floor. "Come on. Let's sit," Remus helped Harry up and put an arm around the boy's shoulders as they walked to the chairs.
"Sirius—Sirius—" Harry said, looking at Remus and Dumbledore, waiting for one of them to say something.
"Have you read the paper, Harry?" Dumbledore asked and Harry nodded, wiping at the tears that were threatening to fall from his eyes.
Remus sighed and shook his head. "Harry, Sirius is fine. He's at home right now sleeping. He was awake earlier today," Remus said as Harry turned to him.
"He's—? But the—the—paper—" Harry stuttered.
"Did you see who wrote that article, Harry?" Dumbledore raised an eyebrow.
"No," Harry shook his head.
"It was Rita Skeeter. She wrote the article," Remus told the boy.
"So he's—he's not—" Harry choked.
"No, Sirius isn't dead. He's just fine," Remus smiled and hugged Harry who leaned into his chest.
"As I was saying before Harry arrived, Harry can take a week off and stay at home. That way he can be with Sirius and you can all catch up," Dumbledore gazed at Harry who frowned in confusion.
Did he know about he, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny becoming Animagi? Harry thought, looking at the twinkle in Dumbledore's eyes.
"You'll be coming home tomorrow. Hermione, Ron, and Ginny are allowed to come over the day after tomorrow. You should get to class, Harry. I'll see you tomorrow," Remus gave Harry one last hug then the teen stood and walked to the door. Before he left, Harry stopped and looked at the headmaster, who was still watching him and Harry thought he saw the older wizard smile. The Gryffindor frowned then left.
"I think Dumbledore knows that we became Animagi," Harry told Hermione, Ron, and Ginny.
"It's Dumbledore. He knows all," Hermione stated and Harry nodded.
"So, Sirius is alive, right?" Ginny asked.
"Yeah, like I said, Rita Skeeter wrote that article. I'm going home tomorrow for week and you three can come over the day after tomorrow," Harry nodded and they all smiled.
"We should all try out our Animagi forms," Ron grinned and the others agreed.
"Time to go, pup. Sirius is expecting us soon," Remus told Harry who ran up to get his trunk.
"See you tomorrow," Harry kissed Ginny's cheek then followed Remus. "Sirius is finally awake again? Who all is going to be there?" Harry said as they walked down to the village.
"Maybe Tonks, Kingsley, or Mrs. Weasley, and yes he's awake. He sleeps quite a bit but he said he'll try to stay awake since you're here," Remus answered.
"But doesn't he need a lot of rest? I don't want him to lose sleep just because I'm at home," Harry stated and Remus smiled.
"It's his third day off. He won't be sleeping as much anymore. Now he just needs to eat and drink," Remus replied and Harry took Remus' arm and they Apparated in front of Grimmauld Place.
"Oh, hey, Remus. Hi, Harry," Tonks and Kingsley greeted when they walked in the house.
"Hi, Tonks, Kingsley. Where's Sirius?" Remus said as Harry set his trunk down.
"Upstairs still. He fell asleep almost as soon as you left," Kingsley told them and Remus nodded.
"Come on, Harry. We'll be right back," Remus ushered Harry up to his bedroom. "You can go into Sirius' room and see him. I'll be downstairs. I need to talk with Kingsley and Tonks," Remus told Harry, ruffled his hair, and then went down the stairs.
Harry walked down the hall and into Sirius' room. He smiled when he saw his godfather sleeping soundly in his bed. Harry pulled up a chair and sat beside the bed. He saw a book under the bed and he opened it. He saw it was a photo album and he flipped through the pages. Harry saw there were a lot of pictures of the Marauders, Lily, Summer, and Harry when he was a baby.
"I get the feeling you were much better as a baby instead of a teenager," a voice said and Harry saw Sirius grinning and sitting up. Harry smiled, sat on the bed, and hugged Sirius, burying his face in Sirius' chest.
"I thought you were dead," Harry's muffled voice said into Sirius' robes.
"I figured as much after I saw the paper," Sirius moved a hand onto Harry's back and rubbed it in comfort. "No one can finish me off that easy. It takes more than that to get rid of Sirius Black," Sirius grinned, stroking Harry's hair.
"I thought I lost you. I never would have been able to deal with it alone," Harry finally just rested against his godfather's chest.
"Maybe, but you wouldn't have been alone. There would have been Remus, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, all the Weasleys, and so many others. If I try to say them, it'll take all day," Sirius said and Harry laughed. "This kind of thing happens in war and no matter what happens, there will always be at least one person there with you," Sirius added, kissing the top of Harry's black hair.
"Can I ask you something?" Harry sat up and looked Sirius in the eye.
"Anything."
"The Prophecy says that 'neither can live while the other survives' which means I have to kill Voldemort or vice versa. Does that mean I have to fight him alone?" Harry looked into Sirius' blue eyes.
"No, you don't. You'll have help the whole way except the times you need to do on your own, but I know two people who won't bail on you," Sirius answered, smiling with Harry. They stayed silent for a bit before Sirius spoke again "So what's this I heard about you and Ginny?" Harry rolled his eyes.
Leave it to Sirius to change the subject, Harry chuckled.
"We're dating. Ron, Fred, George, Bill, and Charlie already gave me the threatening talk," Harry said.
"How did that go?" Sirius raised an eyebrow.
"Let's just say the threat involved the current arrangement of my face," Harry replied and Sirius laughed. "They're very protective of Ginny. I guess because she's the only girl and the youngest. I understand though. I love Ginny and I won't hurt her," Harry told Sirius who was grinning.
"Good. Are Hermione and Ron together yet?" Sirius stated.
"No. They're too busy tearing at each other's throats," Harry rolled his eyes. "Sirius."
"Yeah?"
"Don't ever do that again," Harry cuddled against Sirius who held him closer.
"It's not like I sighed up for it," Sirius sighed.
"Technically you did when you became an Auror, Sirius," Harry replied and Sirius smacked the boy's arm playfully.
"Cheeky brat," Sirius grinned.
"You and Remus say that at least once a week," Harry answered.
"Harry, could we have a minute? We need to talk with Sirius," Remus said as he, Tonks, and Kingsley stood in the doorway. Harry nodded. As he walked by, Remus ruffled the boy's hair affectionately.
"So let's chat about our long lost friends, shall we?" Kingsley stated sarcastically as they all sat down.
"What happened with our buddies?" Sirius asked with the same amount of sarcasm.
"Malfoy and Bellatrix left with a few others after leaving you to watch your life flash by. They all got away except one. The one that Tonks got," Remus replied and Sirius looked at them expectantly.
"Well, who is it?" he asked. Kingsley looked at Remus, nodded, and Remus handed Sirius a file. "Looks like we found our spy. How many dead?" Sirius said as he looked at the picture of his Auror, Corey Brooks.
"About twenty patients, all the night-shift Healers, and two Aurors," Kingsley told his boss.
"Who?" he asked again.
"Smith and Johnson. Nott killed Smith and Malfoy killed Johnson," Tonks told her cousin.
"Do they have something against my Aurors or something?" Sirius frowned.
"Well, you are kind of fighting against them, Padfoot," Remus replied. Sirius rolled his eyes.
"Who were some of the patients?" Sirius wondered.
"Gilderoy Lockhart, the Longbottoms, and some others we don't know," Tonks answered.
"Why was Lockhart in the hospital?" Sirius furrowed his eyebrows.
"In Harry's second year, down in the Chamber, he tried to erase Harry's memory with Ron's wand, but it backfired because Ron's wand was broken," Remus explained and Sirius chuckled.
"So Lockhart and the Longbottoms. Why would they kill the Longbottoms? Bellatrix already drove them to insanity," Sirius said and all the others shrugged.
"OW! Ron! Why did you bite me?" they heard Harry yell.
"Sorry, mate. Ginny, would you get down off the fridge! You might get hurt! Where's Hermione?" Ron answered.
"I'm right here," Hermione said.
"Come on. At the same time. One…two…three," Harry said and everything went quiet.
"What was that about?" Tonks frowned.
"Dunno. Let's go but let's be quiet," Remus stated and they all walked down the stairs quietly. When they got to the bottom they gaped when they saw a fox jumping at a raven and a dog jumping at an owl.
"Oh my God!" Sirius cried and the animals stopped. They all changed back and faced the adults with worried faces.
"Tonks, Kingsley. Could we continue this tomorrow?" Remus said, still staring at Harry and his friends.
"Of course. Bye, Sirius," Tonks and Kingsley nodded, then Flooed back to the Ministry.
"Living room. Now," Sirius said and the teens went and sat in the living room. They waited for a few minutes and listened as they called Mrs. Weasley.
"Oh man," Ron and Ginny groaned.
"Ronald and Ginevra!" the two red heads grimaced at her voice.
"Hermione, Molly will talk to you as well. Harry, come with us," Remus said and they lead Harry outside. They walked in silence before they arrived at the park and they sat on the swings.
"When?" Sirius asked and Harry visibly winced at the thought of beginning the conversation.
"We started trying at the end of last year. We finished a couple days ago," Harry answered quietly.
"Why did you do it?" Remus asked and as Harry was going to speak, Sirius did.
"Let me guess. You thought just because your father and I did it, you figured you should? And you thought it would be a good weapon against Voldemort?" Sirius said sternly. Harry nodded weakly, still avoiding his guardians' eyes.
"Harry, just because they did it, doesn't mean it's okay for you to. Do you have any idea how dangerous it is? They had many close calls, hospital visits. And to bring Ron, Hermione, and Ginny into it," Remus stated, his voice calming.
"The whole thing was Hermione's idea. She brought it up and we decided to do research on it, and then try it," Harry told them.
"It doesn't matter whose idea it was. It could have been McGonagall's, for all we know, but that doesn't matter. But, weren't you the one that asked Ginny if she wanted to do it also?" Sirius replied.
"We all mentioned it to her," Harry mumbled.
"Harry, look. When I became an Animagus it was the best thing I did and it was the same for James. We got to help Remus and it's an advantage for being an Auror," Sirius said and Harry sighed.
"What would you say if I told you both me and Ron want to be Aurors and Hermione and Ginny want to be Aurors or Healers?" Harry stated, kicking some rocks. Sirius and Remus glanced at each other.
"Well, I guess you all have good disguises for any attacks," Remus and Sirius smiled at the teen who finally looked at them.
"Really?" Harry asked, smiling.
"Yep, but this doesn't mean we're completely happy with this, and with that said, you're grounded for the week and you have to clean the library. You left it a mess," Remus said and Harry groaned.
"Oh, come on. That library is huge," Harry complained as they walked back to the house.
"We could get you to do the library at Hogwarts, including the Restricted Section," Sirius grinned.
"I'm good," Harry said and they laughed. They walked into Grimmauld Place and stopped at the living room when they heard Mrs. Weasley still yelling.
"IT'S ILLEGAL! YOU BROKE SO MANY RULES! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW DANGEROUS THAT WAS? WHAT WERE YOU THINKING WHEN YOU CAME UP WITH THIS IDEA?" Mrs. Weasley yelled and the three kids winced. She had been saying almost the same thing for the past fifteen minutes. Harry and his guardians noticed that the teens had sunk very far down on the couch. Ron and Ginny kept glancing at Hermione, not wanting to say it was her idea. She looked almost grateful that no one had said it was her idea yet.
"Did you say it was Hermione's idea? That Hermione?" Sirius whispered to Harry.
"Yeah, how many Hermione's do you know?" Harry raised an eyebrow.
"But, she's the perfect, never-broken-any-rules one. What happened?" Remus added quietly.
"I don't know. She said it's exciting to break the rules. We've also decided to form our own Defence group since we're not learning anything from Umbridge. We're using the Room of Requirement. There's going to be a large group of kids and I'll be teaching everyone Defence. That was mostly Hermione's idea too," Harry chuckled.
"You're just taking charge, aren't you?" Sirius grinned.
"I guess you could say that," Harry shrugged.
"Mrs. Weasley, can I say something?" Hermione asked quietly.
"Of course, dear," Mrs. Weasley looked to Hermione.
"Umm, don't blame Ron, Ginny, or Harry for the idea because—because it was my idea. I suggested becoming Animagi," Hermione stated and the other teens' eyes grew wide as they looked between Hermione and Mrs. Weasley.
"It was—" the woman trailed off.
"My idea, yes," Hermione nodded.
"Well, that changes some. Ron and Ginny, you two are grounded for a week," Mrs. Weasley stated and the kids groaned. "Come on, we're going home. You too, Hermione. With us," Mrs. Weasley led the kids to the fireplace and they all disappeared.
"All right. We'll have lunch then you have a library to clean," Remus said to Harry and they went to the kitchen.
"Great," Harry replied sarcastically.