A/N: Last chapter was twice as long as normally, because I really, really wanted this blasted trial out of the way. I have zero knowledge of the legal world, and what I do know comes from Wikipedia. I apologise to each and every one of you who was bored with this trial, but I firmly believe I could not not do it. When you personally know an ambassador, who wouldn't ask for help when you find out your Godfather was falsely accused of murder and whatnot?

Anyway – we continue were we left off last time, and hopefully, this will be written a little bit better. This trial really didn't go down well… Also, I'm going to be playing a bit with the POV and times – I hope it stays clear what's happening.

Summary so far (chronologically):

Previous to this story: Lilly Evans had two sisters, Petunia and Rosemary. Rosemary was born prematurely in France, and was therefore automatically on the list of Beauxbatons. Because of a lung disease, she rarely visited England after she turned eleven, but she kept in touch with her sisters. Around the time of Lily's and James' marriage, Rosemary married, too, with Sam Johnson. Not so much later, the first Wizarding War erupted to the fullest. Rosemary, being a Muggleborn herself and ambassador for France in magical Britain, wanted to do something. She and Lily started to smuggle Muggleborns out of Britain to France, financed by James Potter. Two years before Harry Potter was born, Rosemary and Sam had a child, Mary Johnson (in story name: Lara, see below). A month before Harry Potter was born, Rosemary and Sam had an another child, Arya Johnson (in story name: Jane, see below).
The Potters were notified that Voldemort was after them, and hid in the same year Harry (and Jane) were born. They used common wards and protective spells for their house, but not yet the Fidelius charm – they needed to research that more. A year later, two weeks before Halloween, Voldemort found out about Rosemary and Sam. He knew that they knew were the Potter were hiding, because they still smuggled Muggleborns. He attacked the house were Rosemary and Sam lived with their children. Mary Johnson (Lara), had gone to a sleepover at a friend's. Voldemort abducted Rosemary, Sam and Arya (Jane). When it was discovered what had happened, Mary Johnson was given up for adoption, and later adopted by Henry and Myriam (in Great-Britain). They decided to change her name to Lara, for her safety. Unfortunately, the friends Mary/Lara was residing with were Muggles, and didn't know the true identities of Rosemary and Sam. Mary/Lara couldn't remember their names either, leaving the authorities with empty hands.
Meanwhile, Voldemort tortured Sam, Rosemary and later even Arya (Jane), although the latter was only a year old. Sam and Rosemary had had the chance to obliviate themselves. They had no hope to escape or survive, so they tried to protect Lily and James. Sam died under torture, soon after their capture. A week after their capture, and a week before Halloween, Lily and James noticed something was wrong. They decided to use the Fidelius charm, with Peter Pettigrew as Secret Keeper. Voldemort was busy torturing Jane and Rosemary, when he got word from Peter Pettigrew himself, who betrayed the Potters right then and there, under Jane's nose. Voldemort killed Rosemary, but he noticed that Jane had some powers of her own: mind reading, healing, seeing emotions, being able to cast a shield without wand, and he decided she would be useful. He told the other Death Eaters to take her with them to the Lestrange manor, when he went to destroy the Potters. He never returned and Arya/Jane stayed with the Death Eaters. They kept attacking villages and families in France, and brought Jane with them. They wanted to make her a spy, because no one would suspect a child. Arya/Jane escaped them, reported them and had them arrested. After that, she ended up in an orphanage, and her name was changed to Jane, for her safety. Mary/Lara had told Henry and Myriam about her sister, and they had informed the authorities. As a result, they got word that the 'missing sister' was found and adopted her, too. Jane is at this moment 7 years old, just like Harry; Lara is 9.
In this story: Jane arrives in Britain, and is in the same class as Harry. They become friends; he helps her cope when her foster mother Myriam dies and it's Harry who finds out they are related. Jane takes the post of ambassador for France in Magical Britain (inheritable, in this story). She helps Harry from a distance when he goes to Hogwarts. Because she can feel and see emotions of others, big crowds like at Hogwarts are impossible to go near for her.
Year 1 and 2 proceed like in canon (mostly), but in year three, Harry brings Sirius to the embassy with a Portkey, after Harry faced the Dementors at the Lake Shore. Sirius asks asylum. The English fail to deliver the paperwork about his trial (as it is non-existent), thus the French organize their own trial, were Sirius is found innocent. At this point, both Jane and Harry are fourteen, and both ready to start their fourth year at Hogwarts (because Jane has a better control of her abilities).

Henry's POV

Henry drove his car home, early in the afternoon. He had gone to the local hospital where he worked, where he'd witnessed an expert demonstrating a new technique in surgery. It had been real art, he thought, how the surgeon had worked in less time, with less blood loss, better results and better healing afterwards. But it had also been exhausting, he thought, as he drove onto the driveway.

He frowned when he noticed the lights in the house were on. Sure, he knew that Jane had her fair bit of trouble sleeping – nearly insomnia – but that didn't mean he had to like it. Certainly, because he didn't know what was worrying her; she'd only said that there was a diplomatic incident. But Henry knew Jane for seven years now, and made himself no illusions: she wasn't telling the whole story. As annoying as it may be, he would wait until she came to him and explained what the problem was. He looked to the other side of the driveway, and was pleased to note that in that house, the lights were out. At least Harry had found a rare moment of rest – for he was just as bad as Jane, when it came to sleeping. Surprisingly, it was Sirius who slept the best of the lot of them, followed closely by Lara. With Henry's working schedule, sleeping soundly was a long-lost dream.

Sometime during his musings, he arrived at their house. Still lost in thought, he parked, killed the lights and shut down the engine. It was only when the noise of the latter died away, he blinked sluggishly. It had been a rather long day, and he was looking forward to relaxing for a bit in the sofa. Entering the building through the main hall of the embassy – who had built the thing like that, going through the entrance hall before you could reach the private part of it – he looked around surprised. There was an atmosphere of utter panic that reminded him forcefully of the day Sirius Black had escaped, with people running and yelling at each other, telephones ringing, owls flying everywhere. And it the middle of that, with a lost look on her face, stood Jane.

Walking up to her, with a sinking feeling that something must've gone terribly wrong, he asked: "Jane, what happened here?"

Until he stopped dead in his tracks.

Because on one side of the entrance hall, employees were cleaning what looked suspiciously much like blood.

Her eyes found his, and he saw a lingering sadness in them. "It's Harry," she replied.

The guy can't seem to catch a break, flashed through Henry's head.

One day prior, Harry's point of view.

Harry woke early in the morning and went to make breakfast. It had been a week since Sirius had been found innocent on the trial, and he'd enjoyed every single moment of that week. Since word about Sirius' innocence might not have spread abroad, they'd decided to come live in the guest building near the embassy. Remus had joined them, but he was still working from eight to five at the WCC.

But all in all, he finally got to know Sirius – who happened to have quite a lot of stories about his parents, too. That way, he learned that it had been his father's idea to become Animagi. That his father had fancied Lily for years, although she only had eye for him once he started to grow up. Sirius admitted – quite embarrassed – that they had been a bit of a joking lot, flirting with the border with bullies from time to time. Before they graduated, they'd made it a point to find all people they'd possibly offended and apologised. It was good Sirius amended that, because Harry had a strong dislike for bullies, after Dudley. There where fun stories, too – about the time his father and Sirius had enchanted all the suits of armour to start singing Christmas carols whenever someone passed.

"You shouldn't have made breakfast, you know," Sirius said, having entered while Harry was lost in thought, "I'm perfectly capable of doing it myself."

Harry just shrugged. It had been one of the few sore points between them. Sirius was worried Harry felt obligated to do so, because the Dursleys had always made him cook. But for Harry, it just gave him a sense of home and peace of mind.

"Have you thought about Jane's idea?", Sirius asked softly.

Harry pulled another face. This idea, as Sirius put it, was that Harry should see a mind healer. Harry had resisted vehemently, stubbornly claiming that he was perfectly fine. But even after such a short notice, Sirius had noticed how much trouble he had sleeping. It had been another sore point between them, especially after Remus had claimed that 'after what he'd heard about Harry's time at Hogwarts, it was probably for the best'. Harry had simply walked out on the lot of them. He couldn't bear the thought of just sprouting whatever he thought to a random person, and besides, he was fine. Even if his sleeping pattern could do with a little improvement, it would get better over time. It always did.

Thankfully, he didn't need to say anything, because Remus just walked into the room. Harry slit a plate over the table, with bacon and eggs, while taking a seat with his own plate. He saw Remus looking at Sirius questioningly from the corner of his eyes, to which Sirius simply shook his head. It only served to annoy him more. It was his life. After so many years looking after himself, he would decide if and when he needed help, thank you very much. Perhaps some of his thoughts were showing on his face, because Remus changed subject hastily.

"So, what are you going to do today?"

Harry shrugged a bit moodily. As he was still recovering, there was honestly not much he could do. He'd hoped to do some flying, now he was in a magical environment, but unfortunately, the Healer had put his foot down. And equally unfortunately, Sirius followed through with that, even threatening to take away his broom if he went on it for a ride.

"Homework, I suppose," he replied, annoyed. He hadn't been able to do much when he was with the Dursleys, but he had made great progress with it ever since he woke after his fall. It had now mainly become an excuse; he only wanted to go somewhere with Sirius, but they hadn't received word of his innocence in the newspapers yet, making it dangerous to go out. He ignored Sirius' pointed look – Sirius had tried to get him to go visit friends or even write them, but then he had put his foot down. He didn't want to hear the pity in their voices when he told them what had happened. Not to mention what the masses would think… He could see the headlines already: 'Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived – until a Muggle came by'. He didn't want his name to be used by blood-bigots, to defend their actions against Muggles – it wasn't because his uncle did what he did, all Muggles were bad or something equally stupid.

"With such dedication, you must be top of your year! How where your school years so far, anyway?", Sirius asked.

Harry tensed. He hadn't thought about that – he'd thought Sirius knew what kind of troublemaker he was, what life-threatening situations came with knowing him. He swallowed. How would Sirius react?

Seeing that Sirius waited for an answer, he hastily sought something to divert attention from him. "Eh- I just remembered… I should go work on that Charms assignment, I'm no good at Charms – see you at lunch, Sirius. Have a good day working, Remus," he said, hastily retreating to his room.

Through the surprised silence, he almost made it.

Almost.

"Harry?", Sirius asked, "Don't you forget something?"

Harry eyed him quizzically.

Sirius pointed to Harry's plate, where he'd mostly pushed his food around.

"Oh – I'm not that hungry. A good cook has to taste what he prepares, after all," he replied evasively.

He sighed quietly when he managed to escape the room, walking upstairs to his as soon as he could, shutting himself in his room.

He couldn't bring himself to take out his books to pretend he was studying. How could Harry not have thought they didn't know about his previous years? It hadn't been in the newspapers. He groaned and let himself fall on the bed, covering his face with his hands. How could he let Sirius take him when he didn't know everything? What with Harry's tendency to be on Death's door, what with his recklessness… Would Sirius be so disappointed that he would kick Harry out? Would he decide that Harry was too dangerous to be around and just leave? What would Remus do?

Hands still covering his face, he sighed. He was so used to having Jane around to talk about this, but he hadn't seen her in a week. Maybe she was busy, maybe she wanted to give them time… Or maybe she wants nothing to do with you after what you made her relive on Sirius trial, his inner voice whispered mercilessly. He groaned.

Downstairs, the front door clicked as Remus left and Apparated. Harry decided to at least get his books out – that way, when Sirius came in, he could at least pretend to be doing something.

And indeed, Sirius peered around the corner about thirty minutes later.

"Everything okay here?", he asked concerned.

Harry looked back, and made his best attempt to smile. "I'll probably figure it out eventually," he replied, nodding to the book.

"I'm sure you will," Sirius replied reassuringly, "I'm going out to see my mind Healer – will you be okay on your own?"

Harry waved him off. "Of course I will! I'm just studying", he replied, forcing to keep his tone light.

Sirius seemed unconvinced. "I'll be gone for only an hour and a half," he said, frowning.

Harry decided another attempt at smiling. "Sure thing," he said.

Sirius left not much later, and Harry sight, pulling his eyes away from the book. He truly didn't feel like studying. He had – how much days did he have until the next school year, anyway? With being in a coma and those trials, he'd lost a bit track of time…

He stared a bit glassily at the calendar in his room, then sighed. He wouldn't get anything done today, anyway. Picking up a sweater and his wand, he left the house for a five-minute walk.

An hour and a half later, Sirius POV.

Mind healing, Sirius had decided, was a strange branch of Magic. It involved a lot of talking about his past and present, and he always had nightmares after it. Although he still couldn't decide whether it was worth it or not, he had noticed he coped a bit better than when he'd just escaped Azkaban. Remus continued presence and calm demeanour helped things.

As he entered through the back door, straight into the kitchen, he sighed. Then blinked.

The mess that came with breakfast still stood there, and he frowned. Usually, Harry would've asked an elf to clean them. But not today, apparently.

He sighed again when he thought back to this morning's discussion. Remus had told him Harry was good with Charms, and that made it safe to assume that Harry had tried to evade the topic. Remus had told him he'd heard Harry was often found neglecting school rules, and Sirius had just wanted to know what pranks his Godson had pulled. It appeared that Harry didn't want to talk about it, and he wondered why. He himself was not innocent; some of their pranks had been harmful and mean even. Surely, Harry knew he would not hold it against him.

He'd talked with the mind Healer about it, and he'd advised Sirius to sit down somewhere quiet and just ask the boy why he didn't want to share, rather than what he didn't want to share. He'd also warned Sirius that, after all the boy had been through, it was not impossible that he was getting depressed. Loss of interest in things, Sirius thought, check. No appetite, check. Tiredness, check. Difficulties with concentrating, maybe check. He sighed. Time to address the situation.

He went upstairs, to Harry's room – next to his – and knocked. "Harry? I'm back. Can I come in?"

No answer. For the first time, it struck him how absolutely silent it was. He couldn't hear any birds chirping like usual – Harry left the window open for Hedwig – he couldn't hear anything in there. The house seemed dark, gloomy and even … empty?

Swallowing, hoping he was wrong, he knocked again. "Harry? I'm worried. Say something, pal."

No reply.

He hurried to the bathroom, on the other end of the corridor. Hopefully, Harry was there, and he just hadn't heard Sirius knocking.

Hopefully, Sirius thought, only just reining in the panic.

"Harry, are you in there? I've got to pee!", he said. The latter was not true, but would explain why his voice sounded so frantic.

No reply.

He threw the door open and looked around, even behind the door and under the sink – as if Harry was just hiding there! He found nothing, and went to Remus' room. He couldn't imagine what Harry would've been doing there, but he had to check.

Nothing.

Turning, walking back to Harry's room, he knocked again. No answer.

Sirius had had enough.

He came in bursting through the door.

"Shit," he whispered.

The room was empty. The book his Godson had been pretending to read was still opened on his desk. He whirled around, trying to estimate if something was missing – Harry had confessed to buying some clothing for his own and hiding it from the Dursley's – but, in all honesty, he couldn't answer that question.

Sirius leaned against a wall, and sunk to his knees. There was only one question on his mind.

Where was his godson?

Ten minutes later, Remus POV

Thank Merlin for small favours, Remus thought. Today he was teaching an older group, ages fifteen to seventeen, meaning that he simply asked them to do independent work, while remaining available for question. The WWC was flourishing; more and more people came to them; more and more parents began to volunteer. They had roughly eighty children here, from ages five to seventeen. The WWC also offered assistance with finding a job, meaning that the children were more dedicated, now they knew their efforts wouldn't be wasted. And Remus took great pride in teaching them – although he wasn't the only one teaching them anymore, he only taught the eleven-year olds to the seventeen-year olds. They needed to do more independent work, because on top of the standard curriculum, they had classes about laws, Muggle studies, maths, science and English. On top of that, there were electives: COMC, Divination, Arithmancy, Ancient Runes and a foreign language (either French, German or Spanish). They'd found teachers for all the electives, but all the rest ended up on Remus' plate. School days were longer, too.

Unfortunately, the situation at home wasn't that good, Remus thought sadly. Sirius was doing better and better every day, both with dealing with his emotional luggage as with Harry. It was the latter that was the true problem, Remus thought, or rather: his behaviour was worrisome. He'd taught the boy for a year, and all those times, he seemed perfectly fine. Even after hearing his parent's voices, he seemed to be perfectly capable of taking care of himself and dealing with his emotions. Now, however, something was going on with him. And he wasn't talking to anyone of them. It had been the topic of more than one late night conversation between him and Sirius. Remus had been the first one to realise Harry evaded his friends, he rarely talked about himself or how he felt. He didn't want to go out, either. Each time they tried to talk with him, he all but ran from the room. They'd initially thought it would be a good idea to let Harry talk to a mind Healer, but his reaction had been worrisome – or rather, the lack of any reaction. They'd fully expected him to go shout he didn't need one; instead, he'd clenched his jaws and just said he was fine. There was something in his eyes right then and there that had Remus worried. Sirius, who hadn't been a fan of the idea for himself not so long ago, had less concern; but even he thought Harry's behaviour was out of the ordinary.

Remus was shaken from his worried thoughts when the secretary called him.

"Professor Lupin? There's someone on the line for you…", she said.

"Thank you, miss Jones," he replied smiling at her.

"Class, I want you to continue to study the Silencing charm. We'll be practicing it next lesson, which means I expect your scrolls in two days. That means you've got work to do, at least until I'm back, probably in five minutes. Okay?"

There was a chorusing of 'yes, professor Lupin' from all sides, which Remus took as his que to leave. The secretary had already left for her desk again, while Remus went to his office.

"Hello?", he asked. He had no idea who would be calling him. Sirius knew he was working and wouldn't call… unless something happened. Jane would come visit him. Apart from them, there were not many people who had this number – it was secret for a reason (namely, no unwanted pureblood visitors).

"Moony, he disappeared! He just disappeared! Oh Merlin, if something happened to him… I shouldn't have left…", shouted a familiar voice in his ear.

Sinking in his chair, Remus replied: "Sirius, calm down. Take a breath. Stop pacing. Then tell me what happened." He heard someone breathing in and out a few times.

"Harry disappeared," Sirius' miserable reply came.

Switching the horn to his left ear, Remus tried to think and reign in the panic that threatened to overtake him. "When?"

"I left him here before my session… Somewhere between one hour and forty minutes ago, and ten minutes ago – in my panic I forgot how phones worked…"

"Okay, okay. This is not your fault, Sirius. Did you notice something out of the ordinary – signs of a struggle or something?", Remus asked, hoping against hope.

"No… I think he left on his own devices; he would've put up a fight otherwise."

"Sirius, stay where you are, I'm Apparating home. We'll find him, okay?", Remus quickly tried to reassure his friend. But personally, he was worried out of his mind, too. Sirius hung up without giving an answer, and Remus hurriedly asked a colleague to take over the remainder of his class. He asked miss Jones to cancel all his other classes for today, and then Apparated home, where a worried Sirius awaited him.

"Did you ask any of his friends if he's with them?", Remus asked him. Although he doubted Harry would be with either Ron or Hermione, it would be wise to check.

Sirius shook his head. "Maybe he went to Jane's? After all, he's officially theirs…", Sirius said, trailing off. They both knew that if Harry wanted to visit, he would've told them he'd gone out.

Nonetheless, they walked the short walk to Henry's house, next to the embassy. They knocked on the kitchen door – the house here was like a copy of theirs – and waited, until Henry opened the door. Upon seeing them, he raised an eyebrow.

"Sirius, Remus… What happened?", he asked, gesturing for them to come in and sit at the kitchen table.

"It's Harry," Remus said, knowing his friend was too upset to talk, "he's gone."

Henry frowned worriedly. "I don't think I've seen him today," he said, although he thought it to be rather odd. Harry usually showed up when they held a moment of silence for his late wife, Myriam. It was five years ago she died, and he'd fully expected Harry to be there.

"But I do," a voice from behind said.

Whirling around, Remus saw Lara standing on the porch, smiling lightly.

"Lara! You're home!", Henry said excitedly, walking up to hug her.

She laughed softly. "Dad, you should now that helping after a hurricane in the States doesn't last forever!" *

He snorted.

Eyeing the two other men, she said: "There's a path, right there. It goes to the driveway. About halfway, there's a young three in a pasture and a picnic bench. Harry's sitting on it."

Remus felt relieved, and a glance to his right learned his friend felt the same way.

"I'm afraid it's a bit my fault," the girl smiled, "I hadn't seen Harry since a while, and I walked in on him when he was about to make a short walk. We talked a bit, and well… I guess we both forgot about the time, because suddenly, we had been speaking for an hour and a half." She shrugged a bit apologetically. "Oh, my I forgot about my manners… I apologise. I'm Lara, Jane's sister."

There was a chorus of nice-to-meet-you's.

Henry cleared his throat. "I've been meaning to talk to the both of you," he said, while he and Lara retook their seats, "how has Harry been?"

Remus and Sirius looked a bit at each other.

"Things haven't been that great," Sirius admitted, "I'm worried about him. He doesn't want to talk about the Dursleys, he doesn't want to talk about his previous years- "

Henry and Lara exchange a glance. "You know something," Remus said, trying to make his voice sound non-accusing.

Henry sighed. "Yeah, but I wonder why he doesn't want to speak with you- "

"Men," Lara sighed, "you do remember how Janes was when she came over, right Dad? It took us a whole year to pry the details out of her – well, not really pry, because that's not a good idea, but you know." She made helpless gesture, unable to express what she meant.

Henry nods thoughtfully. "The question is, how do we convince Harry of that?"

Lara shrugged half-heartedly. "I can't. Neither can you. But Jane can."

Henry grimaces. "I don't know what the hell is going on, but she's working harder than ever – she leaves for the office at four in the morning and only returns around midnight."

"Then we'll have to talk to her," Lara replied evenly.

"But what do we do in the mean time? Harry is not eating well – and after all the malnourishment, he needs it. He looks tired, is easily distracted, loses interest in things – this can't go on!", Sirius said, a little desperately.

"Play a Quidditch match?", Lara suggested. "Although, mind you, I can't fly to safe my life."

Henry shook his head. "I can't clear him yet."

Lara frowned, then smiled: "And what about riding Nyx?" Nyx was a foal Harry had cared for when she was ill. They all expected her to die anyway, but she made it, and Harry was the only one who could ride her.

Henry smiled. "Sure thing – I trust you have a plan?"

Lara smiled. "Sure do."

Meanwhile, Harry's POV

Harry sat on the picknick table, eyeing Myriam's memorial tree – the tree they had planted to remember her – while placing a rose near the tree. The five-minute walk had taken him to a nearby florist, where he'd ordered a mixture of lilies and rosemary. He'd only just waved Lara off when she went to let Henry know she was back, and he was missing her already. It was hard to talk to Remus and Sirius, who didn't know what had happened to him before and at Hogwarts; at the same time, he didn't want them to know, afraid for their reactions. In fact, he didn't want to do anything – except flying, the one thing he wasn't allowed to do. Flying always cleared his head.

At first, when he heard footsteps approaching, he didn't look up. He wasn't ready to face the world again – it had been so peaceful and quite hear.

"Harry?", he heard Remus' hoarse voice saying.

His head jerked up, and he saw Henry, Sirius and Remus standing there, while Lara joined him on the picknick table.

"Did something happen?", he asked worriedly.

Remus and Sirius exchanged a surprised glance. "You weren't there when I came back," Sirius replies carefully.

Harry frowns. "No, I wasn't," he said absently.

Lara sighed – she wasn't really patient. "It's strange to do, but what they're trying to say is if you say you'll be at a place at a certain time, and you aren't there, they are going to worry about you."

Harry blinked. "Oh."

Sirius frowned. "We care about you, Harry. Therefore, we want to know where you are."

Harry looked at the tree. "The Dursley's never asked," he said silently.

"It's not your fault," Lara says forcefully.

Remus looked at them strangely. "No, of course not, it's just a misunderstanding. We understand, Harry."

Harry nods once, still not looking them in the eye.

"And, what are your plans this summer?", she asked him cheerfully, clapping her hands.

Harry raised an eyebrow and finally turned to them. "What are your plans for me, you mean?", he asked, with a ghost of a smile.

"Ah, I'm so glad you ask!", she replied cheerfully. "You remember our neighbours? They have a charity competition. It'll contain show jumping and cross-country. And the profit will go to the people surviving the hurricane in the USA."

"Sounds good, but why exactly is that relevant?", Harry asked suspiciously.

"Because you're going to participate!", Lara replied cheerfully.

"Funny thing, I wasn't aware of that," Harry replied dryly, "Am I cleared yet, doc?"

"How could I say no?", Henry replied laughingly.

Harry nodded, for the first time smiling. "How 'bout a nice ride now?", he asked Lara.

"On one condition, mate," she replied, still laughing, "you never told me how you met my sister! I wanna know!"

Harry sighed. "Questions, questions. Always questions."

But, inwardly, it warms his heart that Lara subtly reminded him how good a friend he has.

That night, Harry POV

Lara, Sirius and he had gone on a nice ride after the story, which had Remus and Sirius smiling. Remus needed to get back to work, but Sirius accompanied them as a dog, as they rode to a river after the story. They'd had the most fun splashing each other in the water, as it was a warm day. They'd jumped some minor obstacles even, and for the first time in days, weeks even, Harry had felt free of any concern.

That night, they'd had dinner at Henry's. Unfortunately, as it was Remus turn to stay at the WWC at night (teachers took turns in that), he hadn't been able to join them. They'd then spent their time with a game 'don't lose your head' – Sirius had been anxiously waiting until something exploded or something, not being able to believe Muggle board games didn't work that way. All in all, it had been a good night, even though Jane still didn't show up when they'd left at ten P.M.

Unfortunately, even when he'd been more active than usual, Harry still couldn't sleep. He sighed, and kicked the blankets away. He decided on a cup of the caffeine-free tea Jane had gifted him for his birthday – tea was one of the few English things she'd quickly gotten used to. Walking silently past Sirius room, he went to put the kettle on the fire. He could, of course, wake Sirius to do this in an instant, but there was something soothing about doing it himself. While he waited for the kettle to start whistling, he looked outside the window. It was probably close to three A.M., he thought. Way to early – or late, when you considered he hadn't been able to sleep yet.

Same time, Sirius POV

After Azkaban, he'd never slept well. His mind healer had suggested some sleeping draughts to begin with, together with some exercises to 'calm his mind', and then to try and replace the former with the latter. Sirius had thought of it as rubbish – but today's events had alerted him to the fact that it was no longer only about him. Harry needed him – look at how he flourished when someone did pay attention to him – and he'd seen the concern on Remus' carefully neutral face, as plain as if it had been his own.

So, he'd caved, that night for the first time. And for the first time, he'd slept well.

"Sirius! Wake up, now!", a voice shouted.

Sirius blinked sluggishly.

Harry was looking at him from the door frame. Distantly, he heard an odd whistling.

"Whazist?", he asked vaguely, still under the influence of the potion.

"Get up!", Harry whispered, looking back to the corridor.

Cursing, Harry went in the room, and grabbed his arm. "Emergency," he whispered, while Sirius eyed him uncomprehendingly.

Then, he saw to curses speeding their way.

The next moment, they whirled away, in the haze that followed Portkeys.

Hitting the ground of their destination hard - he hadn't expected to be Portkeyed away, after all – he looked around. The hall they were standing in looked ancient, with marble and desks. He frowned. "Where are we?", he asked. And, more importantly, who were those people, he wondered.

He got no reply.

He whirled around, and saw Harry laying there, completely still, with a meaningful red spot, blossoming on his shirt.

* I've got no idea if there were any (big) hurricanes that year, but hey, it's fiction after all

Also, I'm a mean person with the cliff hangers.

The reason for this attack will be revealed next chapter! I hope to upload next week, but as I need to prepare some exams – again, I know… - I can't guarantee. I try.

Thank you all for your continued support!