How?

Chapter 44

The next day past in haze. Luna, Hermione and Harry were discharged by Madam Pomphrey who declared them fit last evening after a thorough examination. On the other hand, Ginny, Ron, Neville, Blaze and Sirius were still imprisoned in the Hospital wing.

It was a bright Sunday afternoon. Harry and Hermione were sitting in the Hospital wing with the others. Ron had received a parcel filled to the brim with sweets this morning, and a tiny hill of chocolate frogs was mounted on his side table. He kept passing them to everyone around while they were chatting, "Here", he said throwing one towards Harry who caught it with his excellent seeker reflexes. "So, when is she planning to leave you all?", asked Harry popping the chocolate frog box open. "She said she'll leave me by this evening.", cried Ginny stuffing the last bit of her chocolate frog in her mouth. "Same", chorused Neville and Sirius in unison. "And what about you both?", he asked pointing towards Ron and Blaze. "Probably by tomorrow or day after. She says that these wound will take time to heal. Says that thoughts wound deeper than any curses or hexes.", replied Ron wolfing down sweets one after the other, "Indeed, they do", commented Blaze, lying on her bed and sorting through her letters, "And what about you?", continued Harry passing her a chocolate frog, which she very politely refused, then shrugged, "Probably tomorrow", she replied pulling out another letter from its envelope.

Then sat up and scribbled something on a parchment, folded it neatly and shoved it into an envelope resting on the side table. "What are you doing?", asked Sirius jumping up from his bed, "Answering a letter", she replied pulling herself upright, "Do you mind accompanying me to the owlery, Harry?"

Harry looked at her then nodded and started walking beside her. Halfway through the hallway Sirius caught up, "I'm coming with you.", he said slipping his arm around her waist. She slowly pulled it away, "No you are not. I want to have a word with Harry. You can go back and rest.", she shook her head, "Sirius, please", she said patting his shoulder. He silently turned back and left.

The duo walked silently to the owlery, "You wanted to speak to me?", asked Harry standing behind her as she tied the letter to one of the owls. "Indeed, but no here perhaps somewhere else.", she replied taking the owl to the window. "Where?", he questioned as the owl soared away. Blaze slid her hand across his shoulder and started walking.

A few moments later they were standing by the Black Lake, "Here", she mumbled sitting down. He sat down beside her, "Did I ask you to do something yesterday?", she asked hugging her legs. Harry nodded, "And what was that I asked you to do, Harry?", she continued now looking at him. "You asked me to speak to Sirius…..and clear up all our differences.", he said pushing his hair away from his eyes, "But you didn't do that. May I know the reason behind this decision of yours?", demanded Blaze.

Harry looked at her and said, "It's just that….just you know….you what he did. He held my arm…..and didn't let me save you. You won't be in this state if…..it wasn't for him…and me too. I mean he says that he really loves you….but he didn't even attempt to save you…and didn't….didn't even let me do anything."

Blaze gave him a smile, "But how do you know he didn't try to save me. You've concluded all that you witnessed in the Ministry but that doesn't mean that's how it is. Listen, Harry, there're a lot of things you don't know about. A lot of things I never told you about, because I didn't want to make things worse for you.", she said, "Nobody tried to save me more than he did and I know that. And why don't you try thinking it this way? He held your hand and stopped you from saving me, not because he doesn't really love me but because he loves you more than anyone else. For god sake Harry, the man escaped Azkaban only to protect you. He cares so much about you that he didn't even think ones before running headfirst into trouble. Look, I know that neither is he very happy after losing you nor are you. So now call him and talk yourself out of this mess, please."

Harry nodded and pulled himself upright then helped her up, "Wait here I'll call him." , she said drawing out her wand. Within the next few seconds a dog shaped Patronus was sprinting on the ground, "Sirius, Harry wants to have a word with you. Do you mind coming near the Black Lake? He's waiting for you.", she requested then asked the dog to deliver the message to him. "Will you stay with us?", asked Harry but she shook her head and pointed towards Hagrid's hut, "I've planned on visiting an old friend.", she said walking away to the small hut.

Some minutes of staring and strolling later, he saw Sirius walking towards him. Looking at him he quickly listed everything he was supposed to say and ask in his mind. "You called me, Harry?", he said smiling at him. "No, actually…yes...no..I mean yes. Yeah, I did.", he stammered fiddling with his fingers, "I wanted to talk to you abo.."

"About why did I stop you from giving them the prophecy, right.", interrupted Sirius standing beside him, "Yeah", he mumbled. "Listen, I'm sorry for that but it was the only right thing to do. I mean not….putting her life in danger…but…I don't know…if you know. I mean I don't know if she told you about all this but I think that you've got a right to know. That day in the Ministry you saw her condition, all that blood from her mouth and those marks on her arms weren't only injuries. I hope you remember that time when she went missing for two whole months?" he asked. "Yes I do", said Harry reminiscing the time he got the news she was back. "When she appeared back, she wasn't all fit and fine she was in a very, very bad condition. What I'm trying to tell you is that she was cursed by a dark artefact and that curse was killing her from inside. It was slowly eating her minute by minute and that day when she came to save you in the Ministry she was dying and…..and there was no way we could save her so when she asked me to save you….that was the only right thing to do."

"But then how did all this happen? She is alright now, isn't she?", asked Harry, all this felt like a hard blow to his gut. "Yes, she is alright now. In fact, you saved her.", replied Sirius pressing his hand on his shoulders, he turned to look at him with a confused look on his face, "What do mean by that. How can I save her when I didn't even know about all this?"

"By that, I mean that when we all thought she was dead, which she actually wasn't but she would've been very soon. And you got out of anybody's control and were about to murder Bellatrix Lestrange, I don't know if you remember but Remus came and held you before you did something wrong. That's when all this happened, you lost control of your magic and it exploded causing all that destruction and killing the curse. Also, breaking my collar bone as one of the boulders fell on me."

"Sorry", blurted Harry. Sirius waved it off, "Oh, it's alright. Poppy fixed it anyway."

"No…. …I'm..sorry…I'm sorry for blaming you for all this. I didn't know….", he murmured ashamed of himself. Sirius pulled him into a tight embrace, "That's alright too. I know you didn't.", he whispered patting his shoulders. Sirius breathed a sigh of relief as he released him, "What happened?", asked Harry sitting down beside him, "Nothing, It just feels good to have both of you back.", he said smiling at him and playing with his promise ring,

"But why didn't you tell me all this before?"

"I myself didn't know until some months ago. She didn't want to tell anyone about it. Not even Remus, whom she shared everything with. And when she finally did tell us, she completely forbade us to tell you anything. Said she didn't want to add one more thing for you to worry about. And that you were her responsibility, she wasn't yours or anyones. 'I can take care of myself, you don't need to worry about me.', that's what she said to be precise."

"Wait, why not? She is my godmother, I've got a right to care for her, haven't I?"

"Don't ask me to fathom the way her mind works these days. It's impossible to do so, she has changed a thousand folds since the day I first met her."

"And you still love her?"

Sirius nodded, "She does too, just doesn't say it that often, but I know she does. By the way, where is she now?"

"Visiting Hagrid. She convinced me to talk to you about all this because she thought none of were happy without each other."

Sirius then stood up and pulled Harry back on his feet then started walking towards Hospital wing, "Well, true enough I wasn't."

"Me neither", whispered Harry following him. But when they reached the hallway leading to the infirmary a thought struck Harry, "Hey Sirius", he called out, "Hmm", he answered walking alongside him.

"Why don't you ask her out? I mean now that she isn't all that rude and bitter to you. Maybe she'll agree this time. Give it a shot, mate.", suggested Harry bumping his fist on Sirius's shoulder. He stopped walking and turned to face Harry, "Actually you know what, I was thinking about the exact same thing. I give it a try but I just hope she agrees. Merlin, if she does everything will be just as it was all that time ago. We'll be a proper family then. You, me, Remus and Blaze.", he said flashing a grin then swooping Harry into a tight hug.

Harry had never felt this happy since a very long time now. The word 'Family' was enough to lift up his spirits. It was something he never had, and something that he knew was the best thing anyone ever had. He felt like a million fireworks were blasting inside him. And Sirius was no better, he finally had this feeling of fullness inside him. It was like he was complete once again. The pieces of him that were lost were now finally filling up.

Now, the thing that was left to do was to plan the whole thing out. Harry and Remus would help him out with that, so that wasn't a very big hurdle to jump. The actual matter of concern was asking her out, and he had to do it quickly because…..well because he couldn't wait any longer. Yeah, that was the reason. He had no time left to waste now, he had to make a move.

The rest of the day ran out quickly. They'd plan out most of the things but a few were still left to figure out. "All fit and fine. Just keep taking the potions I've asked you to for the rest of week. And if there is any problem just come and meet me. Now, your free to leave, Sirius.", announced Madam Pomphrey performing a thorough scan for the last time. He nodded then looked over to Harry, who mouthed, "Ask her" pointing at Blaze who was sitting up on her bed and flipping through a book. "I will", mimed Sirius holding up his hand, "wait", then hurriedly tied up his shoelaces and strode towards her.

"I'm leaving", he mumbled standing beside her bed. She marked the page she was reading then slammed the book shut and kept it on the side table, "Good bye then, I'll probably meet you tomorrow if she leaves me.", she waved, "Until then, take care"

"Yeah, bye. Take care.", he mumbled turning away. This wasn't how it was supposed to happen. He had to ask her to see him off. 'Sirius you bloody idiot', he thought slapping his forehead. Then turned back again, she was getting down from her bed, "Wait, where are you going?", he asked helping her get down, "Oh, nowhere, I just thought that I should see you off."

"What? I mean yes….yeah. Come it's….completely alright. No problem at all", he stammered then looked over his shoulder towards Harry and winked.

The duo strolled along the grounds as slow as humanly possible. Then after several minutes of an awkward silence Blaze spoke up, "I'm really proud of what you did. Back at the Ministry, when you stopped Harry from handing Lucius the prophecy. It was the right thing to do. Thanks a lot."

"Easy for you to say. It wasn't that easy to do, though. I try to save one and lose the other. But, it's over now and, I don't really fancy reminiscing the moment over and over again. I just hope I don't have to face this ever again."

She pressed her hand on his shoulder, "You are a brave man, Sirius. You always were one and I know it wasn't a very easy thing to do. That's the reason I'm proud of you but, you're right it's over now. I'm sorry I shouldn't have picked this topic.", she said as they reached their destination. They'd crossed the entire ground and the walked through the anti-apparition wards.

"So, she'll discharge you tomorrow, eh.", said Sirius trying to stir the conversation, "Probably", she murmured smiling at him. "So, what do you plan on doing tomorrow?", he asked cursing himself, 'Where are your dating skills, Sirius. Can't even ask a girl out, shame.', he thought.

"Don't know, maybe go to work. That's all, really."

"I was wondering if you'd like…..you'd like to have dinner with me…..tomorrow.", he stammered staring at her serene golden eyes.

"We usually have dinner together, Sirius.", she smirked trying to fish out the proper word out of his mouth. "No..I mean yes we do…but like….only you and me alone.", he fumbled.

"Oh, you mean out as in out on a date.", she murmured stifling a laugh, Sirius nodded smiling back at her. "Yeah, sure wh…..", answered Blaze but before she could finish Sirius pulled her into a bone-crushing hug, then released her and said, "Tomorrow, 8.p.m Shrieking Shack"

"Fine, I'll be there. Bye now."

"Yeah, bye", waved Sirius, then gave her a soft peck on her cheek and disapparated.