Disclaimer: I do not own anything of this story. Harry Potter and all of the notable characters belong to J.K. Rowling.

Magnolia Crescent

Chapter Twenty-Five

The Snakes and The Raven

The following morning came far too early for Harry. He woke to the bright sunshine falling across his bed and sluggishly made his way downstairs for breakfast. He felt as if he had hardly gotten any sleep the night previous but that could be because he had stayed up most of the night waiting for Sirius.

Sirius, on the other hand, was bright-eyed and bushytailed as he finished making breakfast.

"Ah, look who finally decided to get up!" he exclaimed, preparing a plate for his godson. "I figured that if you had gotten up within the next few minutes, I would come and wake you up. Don't need you missing the train, now do we?" he said, sitting down with his own plate of food. Harry, knowing that Sirius would disapprove of his not eating, immediately dug into his breakfast. Not to mention, after the scare yesterday at the Quidditch World Cup, it felt like he hadn't eaten in years, he was so hungry.

"Are you going to be taking me King's Cross?" Harry asked between mouthfuls of food.

"Most likely and I'll probably be there until the train departs before heading off to Hogwarts myself," Sirius replied, eating his food a bit more slowly. "I thought of something," Sirius said, putting down his fork and looking at Harry. "How have you managed to get to King's Cross while you were living with those Muggles?"

"Well, I was either with Hagrid or the Weasleys," Harry replied, wondering on the question. "Why?" Harry asked simply.

"Nothing, merely curious. I've met your aunt and uncle, remember? They didn't exactly come across as the kind of people who would have willingly taken you to King's Cross when you needed to be there," Sirius said, shrugging as he resumed his breakfast. "Anyways, nothing to worry about." He glanced at the clock. "Blimey, Harry. We have to get moving soon. Can't believe the summer's over already. Can you?"

"Nah," Harry responded, polishing off his food. "It went by rather fast because I was always busy, I think." There was a general air of silence around them for the next hour or so until it was time for them to head for King's Cross.

"Got everything together, Harry?" Sirius asked, standing in the doorway and holding Hedwig's cage.

"I think so. I don't think I really took much of anything out of my trunk, to be honest," he replied, looking over his trunk one last time.

"Well, I wouldn't worry too much about it. If you do manage to forget something, we'll get it taken care of. We should probably get going so you don't miss the train," Sirius said, handing Hedwig's cage to Harry and taking the trunk instead.

Much to Harry's relief, they made it to Platform Nine and Three-Quarters with plenty of time to spare.

"Oi, Harry! Over here!" a voice called. Harry turned and saw a head of vivid red hair poking of an open train window. He waved enthusiastically at Ron and turned back to Sirius.

"I take it that's the compartment you want?" he asked automatically, heading towards Ron with Harry trailing behind. Together, they managed to load the trunk in and get it situated in an overhead rack.

"Hey, Ron," Harry greeted, smiling at his friend. "Have you seen Hermione or Leo?"

"No, haven't seen either. Saw Malfoy though, slimy git that he is," Ron grimaced. "He was with his dad, too." Sirius swore under his breath, snapping his fingers in a near miss.

"Well, so much for that train of thought," Sirius said, waving it off. "Dad still here, Ron?" Ron nodded. Sirius stepped out of the compartment, making his way towards Arthur and Molly. Harry glanced outside, watching the conversation but unable to hear it. He was unable to ponder on it much, however, when Hermione bounded onto the train practically beaming.

"What're you so happy for?" Ron asked, looking at her curiously.

"Honestly, Ron. You should know me. School's starting," she smiled, setting down her trunk and Crookshanks in his basket before bounding off once more to bid her parents goodbye. From somewhere near the front of the train, a whistle blew, signaling that departure would be occurring shortly. Harry glanced out the window and saw Sirius waving him out.

"Yeah?" he asked, standing before his godfather.

"The train's going to be leaving very soon. Figured I would bid goodbye for the day and see you at the feast. Sound fair?" Sirius said. Harry nodded. "Then I will see you tonight. Behave on the train," Sirius said strictly but winked at Harry all the same. He brought his godson into a quick hug before ushering him onto the train. The whistle blew once more and everyone leaned out of the window to bid their parents farewell for the year.

"You'll help us by watching over them, then?" Arthur asked, standing beside Sirius. "They say this tournament is the most dangerous thing ever."

"They'll be fine," Sirius assured before apparating to Hogsmeade.

Harry, Ron and Hermione all took a seat in their compartment, rehashing the Cup and talking about the summer before the Cup, something none of them had a chance to talk about the last time they met.

After two hours or so, Harry stood and made his way to the door of the compartment.

"Where are you heading, Harry?" Hermione said, setting down her copy of The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 4.

"I'm going to try and find Leo. He seemed a bit off when he left the Burrow and Grimmauld Place," Harry explained, stepping into the corridor. Hermione nodded, returning to her book while Ron shrugged and looked out the window at the heavily falling rain. Harry made his way through the train, looking into every compartment he passed. He came upon one where there a bit of commotion inside.

"What's she to you, Holmes? Your new girlfriend?" a sneering voice said. Harry looked inside to see Malfoy picking on Leo who was standing in front of a girl with long blonde hair. "Whatever happened to Granger?"

"Neither of them are my girlfriend," Leo shot back. "But they are my friends and you can leave them alone."

"Some Slytherin you are," Malfoy said, curling his lip slightly. "I don't know what kind of friend she could possibly be. But then again, when all you want to do is talk about yourself, she's be the perfect mate, wouldn't she?" Malfoy jeered, a small smile playing across his face.

"Shove off, Malfoy," Leo said, grabbing the girl's arm and walking away. Malfoy wasn't quite through yet. Even as they walked away, he still tried to throw insults at them.

"He doesn't bother me, Leo," the girl said in a dreamy far-away kind of voice. "Oh, hello," she said, noticing Harry still standing in the corridor.

"H-hello," Harry replied, stammering slightly.

"Hey, Harry," Leo greeted in a grumpy voice. "Malfoy's such a git, you know?"

"You should know better than anyone that's how he is, though," Harry said, shrugging his shoulders as they walked down the corridor. In the small silence that followed, the girl cleared her throat. It was clearly an invitation for Leo to introduce her.

"Right. Harry, this is Luna Lovegood. Luna, Harry Potter. She's a Ravenclaw," he said, motioning with his hand to each of them.

"Hello, Luna," Harry said, giving a small wave before turning his attention back to Leo. "Did you want to try and escape Malfoy for a bit by hanging with Ron and Hermione?" he asked, adding quickly, "Luna can join us as well, if she wants." They were now standing at the door of the compartment Harry had left earlier.

"Hello, Leo," Hermione said, waving through the open door. He returned the wave and glanced at Luna to see what she wanted to do. "Who's with you boys?" she asked, peering around them to see Luna.

"Oh, this is Luna Lovegood. She's one of Leo's friends and I ran into him defending her from Malfoy," Harry explained quickly. Luna glanced between the four of them before speaking.

"Oh, that's okay. I don't want to intrude," Luna said with a smile, ready to leave.

"Nonsense, an enemy of Malfoy is always welcomed here," Ron said with a smile a little too big on his face. Hermione glanced over at her friend, narrowing her eyes a bit.

"Um, okay," she said cheerfully, sitting down and pulling out a magazine called The Quibbler.

"So, Harry, since your godfather is going to be the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, you think he could cut us some slack in the homework department?" Ron asked, rather hopeful.

"I wouldn't count on it," Harry said with a slight smile, scratching the back of his head. "But thanks to Lupin using me as a guinea pig, I know pretty much everything we will be covering."

"Lucky dog," Leo grumbled, folding his arms as he looked at the door of their compartment.

"I can't believe Lupin would let Harry know everything," Hermione scoffed.

"I doubt he did, but still. That's going to be a lot of help if he doesn't change his plans too much," Ron grinned, seeing an opportunity.

"Boys," Hermione mumbled, shaking her head. "Luna, may I ask what a Riptortis is?" she asked, looking the Quibbler headlines claiming that one had been spotted in Italy.

"Oh, it's a very small bug that sounds like a lion when it cries out," she answered. Hermione frowned, having heard of no such creature.

"Well, in a world full of magic, it wouldn't take much to create such a creature," Leo said, shrugging as he noticed Hermione's expression. She glanced over at him.

"Creating life is hardly something to scoff at," she snapped. Leo shrugged, not too bothered.

"Who said anything about breaking one of the first Wizarding Laws?" Leo asked. "It's so much easier to take something that already is and change it," he said, smiling as he spotted a housefly on the window. He raised his wand, pointing it at the fly with a small flick. At first, nothing happened. Everyone flinched when the bug suddenly gained the voice of a massive cat and used it.

"See, a simple transformation and we have our headline," Leo said with a smirk. "You've got to be a bit more creative than that, Granger," he said, a smug smile on his face.

"But it's still a fly," Hermione reminded, frowning.

"Yeah, but it doesn't sound like one, does it? If you turn a rat into a cup, is it a rat or a cup?" Leo asked, smirking as he clearly enjoyed the argument.

"It's a rat because that is what it was to begin with," Hermione said in an even tone.

"How do you know it wasn't turned from a cup first?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"That's not the point," Hermione sputtered out.

"What if magic made a fly sound like a fly so magic wouldn't be discovered by Muggles?" Leo asked. "What something is in the present has little to no effect as to what it is or what it will become. Especially when on wields a wand," he said, raising his wand and turning the fly into a feather.

"When – how?" Hermione started, glaring at him as she leaned back into her seat.

"Did you know butterbeer is really good for a sore throat?" Luna piped in. Everyone glanced at her, unsure of how to react to the statement.

"Leo, I think you're in big trouble, mate," Ron whispered at the Slytherin.

"Well, I have no issues. I like this kind of trouble," Leo replied with a grin. The few remaining hours on the Hogwarts Express passed with relative ease. Despite the disagreement between the Hermione and Leo, conversation remained fairly light. By the time the train began to slow, the entire group perked up, looking out the window and surprised that it was already dark out.

"Best get ready then," Leo said, standing to his feet and heading back to the compartment where his robes where still packed away. As they did every year, the trio made their way onto the platform to greet Hagrid before they ran for the carriages that would take them to the castle.

"Does anyone else feel a storm coming tonight?" Hermione asked, shutting the door of the carriage behind her. Harry and Ron shrugged, shaking their heads. Hermione glanced out the window and looked at the black sky above them. It almost looked like rain was going to start.

Sirius landed in the middle of Hogsmeade with a bit of a running start. He took a deep breath. The area was just as he remembered. "It's a nice day, not needing to turn into a dog to get around anymore," he said with a slight smile as he pulled out a pocket watch. "Remus, where are you?" he asked, frowning slightly as he put the watch away.

A door suddenly slammed open across the street. Sirius looked over to see a thin figure stepping out. He gave a slight smirk. "Well, you're the last person I expected to run into. I was waiting for a friend but he may have to wait a bit," Sirius said, reaching into his coat.

Oh, Leo. *shakes head* Why must you torment the girls so? And Sirius might be in a spot of trouble...

I promise to get the next chapter up within the week but the suspense can be killer!

~LE