Dumbledore met Harry only a few corridors away from the Entrance Hall, having been waiting there patiently. He seemed unsurprised that Ron and Hermione had joined him, and made no suggestion that they were not welcome to join them. Following Dumbledore's lead they made their way through the castle and down to the ground floor, but he did not immediately start explaining the reason he requested Harry's presence.

Dumbledore looked ragged with exhaustion. From the bits and pieces he had heard Harry figured Dumbledore had been non-stop since he and Cedric disappeared on Saturday night, that he probably hadn't stopped for a good night of sleep. It wasn't until they stepped foot outside the castle and began making their way through various courtyards that Dumbledore spoke, and he sounded as weary as he looked.

'I am relieved to see you in better health, Harry,' he began, casting his eyes over him. 'Did you sleep well?'

'Yes, Sir.'

'Good,' he murmured, thinking before he went on. 'I'm proud of the school's response to Cedric's death, despite the unprecedented number of students violating a mandatory lock down. I will come by a little later to also pay my respects to Cedric.'

'There's a lot of rumours going around,' Harry started, not wanting to waste any time.

'Alas, there are. The rumours are partly the reason for our impromptu meeting, Harry. I suggest that perhaps you might like to get an early start on the summer?'

Harry faltered, surprised by this comment. He glanced back at Ron and Hermione who had purposefully fallen behind, but could still hear.

'Are you trying to get rid of me?'

Dumbledore shook his head. 'No, Harry. But if you wished to leave school a few days early, I would permit you to do so.'

He did…Merlin, how he did. 'I'd have to ask Mrs Weasley if-'

'Harry,' Dumbledore cut him off apologetically. 'I've spoken with Mrs Weasley, and she made it clear she wishes you to go to her home immediately. However, I cannot permit you to go to the Burrow. I'm sorry. You must return to your family in Privet Drive.'

At this Harry stopped dead in his tracks. His family? The Dursleys were not his family. Especially not after last night, after the way Mrs Weasley had stayed with him, the way Fred and George hugged him like their own brother. The horror must have been evident on his face, for Dumbledore's expression became only more apologetic.

'I understand your reluctance.'

'I'm not going there.'

'You must, Harry. I hope you can understand. I have my reasons.'

'What reasons?' he demanded angrily.

'Reasons that for now, I cannot disclose to you.'

His anger was swiftly replaced by hurt and paranoia. Dumbledore's refusal to share such insignificant information about why he couldn't go to the Burrow hit him hard…because Dumbledore knew he couldn't keep a secret.

Last night Harry had been completely honest with him about Voldemort's torture, had admitted that he answered every question he could, anything to stop the pain. Now Dumbledore knew that Harry wouldn't be able to stand up to that kind of situation again…it was wise for him to not share any information, but that didn't make it any easier.

'I'm not going back to the Dursley's any earlier than I have to,' he said solidly, making his discontent with the situation explicitly clear. 'And I'm not staying there either. I'm not staying the whole summer.'

Dumbledore nodded, but Harry got the feeling it was not a nod of agreement. Perhaps wisely Dumbledore immediately changed the subject and ushered Harry to start walking again, for they had some other place to be.

'If you are feeling up to it, Harry, I would like you to meet with Mr and Mrs Diggory this morning. They would like to thank you for returning Cedric's body.'

Feeling like this whole conversation was getting worse and worse, Harry barely nodded his head. 'Do they believe me?'

'Do they believe that Voldemort has returned? I'm not sure. Do they believe that you had anything to do with Cedric's death, nefariously or otherwise? No. They only wish to thank you. I do not believe they will ask too many questions, as I have answered them sufficiently.'

They were out in the grounds now, the Durmstrang ship visible in the distance. It was a sunny morning with clear skies, and the pleasantness of the weather was completely at odds with the way Harry felt. It ought to be cloudy, raining at the very least.

'Did you bring me out here just to ask about the Diggorys?'

Now, Dumbledore smiled. 'I brought you here following a rousing demand from Sirius. Very rousing, in fact. You see Harry, there've been reports in this morning's Daily Prophet, the details of which are concerning to Sirius and I.'

'What is it?'

From inside his robes Dumbledore passed him a folded Daily Prophet, the morning edition. When Harry saw it his throat tightened, heart beginning to beat hard as he found his ordeal splashed across the front page for the whole magical community to see. The centre photograph was him, of Mr Weasley pulling him up to his feet on the Quidditch pitch.

The Harry in the photo could barely stand, covered in blood and muck. On the ground was Cedric, his image mercifully blurred out. The headline read 'One dead, Potter survives', but it wasn't the feature headline or article concerning Dumbledore. It was the column next to it, the smaller headline no less impactful.

'Headmaster and mass murderer. Co-conspirators'.

Harry skimmed through the Rita Skeeter article, his heart sinking as horror rose up inside his throat. Someone had been in the Hospital Wing last night, had overheard the argument between Dumbledore and Fudge. But three paragraphs down came the passage that was of greatest concern, the accusation that Sirius Black had been by Harry's bedside. The notorious mass murderer comforting Harry Potter, working with Dumbledore…

The article went on, covering that Sirius had been there with him in the hospital wing, staying at his bedside for hours. That he had left on Dumbledore's orders, abandoning Harry, both of them conspiring a plot to discredit Fudge and take the Minister for Magic position.

'How did she know all this?' Harry asked, quietly, reading the article again. 'How did she know Sirius was there?'

'A great many things about this article concern me, not least of which that Rita Skeeter gained access to our Hospital Wing while we were under lock down. What is also alarming, is that Skeeter must know of Sirius' status as an unregistered Animagus.'

'But…but she didn't say anything about that,' he wondered, looking for anything he had missed.

'Knowing Skeeter as we do, it is my suspicion she will hold on to that information until such a time that the first article has gained traction and interest. What this means for Sirius however, is that his useful disguise will soon prove highly dangerous for him.'

Folding the newspaper he turned back to Ron and Hermione and gave it to them, unwillingly taking one last look at the cover photograph of himself. That moment had to be one of the worst he'd ever experienced - coming back out of the blue, barely able to stand or think…and it was immortalised in print for everyone to see.

'What am I supposed to say to people?' he asked, deferring to Dumbledore for advice. 'They'll ask about Sirius. He's supposedly out to kill me.'

Dumbledore appeared thoughtful now, but he quickly reached his advice. 'To deny Sirius would be to deny his importance to you. At such grave times like this when you will no doubt lean on him for support, I would not ask you to deny his commitment to you by lying.'

'You want me to tell the truth?'

'Yes, Harry,' Dumbledore said emphatically. 'The truth is of great importance. The truth we speak must never waver or change. It must never be hidden because some find it inconvenient. If you're asked, tell the truth about Sirius, just as I know you will tell the truth about Cedric, and Lord Voldemort.'

'And when they don't believe me?' Harry asked next, conscious that this question was about more than Sirius. It was about more than what his fellow school students would ask in their last days before end of term.

'Tell the truth. Again and again if you must. Do you understand?'

'Yes,' Harry nodded, relieved he didn't need to remember some rubbish story to keep Sirius safe. 'Where's Sirius now?'

'We'll be meeting him at the Whomping Willow. As I said, he made a very rousing demand to see you one last time. With Rita Skeeter's knowledge of his disguise, it may soon become impossible for him to be seen in any form.'

When they rounded the final curve of the hill they saw the Whomping Willow, and sprawled out on the grass a few yards out of reach was Padfoot. The moment he raised his head and saw them coming his tail started wagging uncontrollably, and Harry would have laughed were it any other day. Waiting until he got a nod of approval from Dumbledore, Padfoot promptly transformed back into a man and waited for Harry to approach.

'I can allow only a few minutes,' Dumbledore said apologetically. 'There are Ministry wizards still on the castle grounds, investigating on Fudge's orders.'

Leaving Ron and Hermione behind he was already making his way over to Sirius, managing a smile when he thought of him coming through the tunnel from the Shrieking Shack, just as he had a year ago. Except then Harry had been with him, and he remembered the conversation as if it had been moments ago.

'Well…your parents appointed me your guardian. If anything happened to them…if you wanted a…a different home…'

Harry could remember all too well the explosion of joy that took place within him, the idea that he could move in with Sirius giving him the kind of hope he'd not ever known. And the smile on Sirius' face when Harry said he wanted to leave the Dursleys…it had made him look ten years younger, more like himself before the deaths of his friends and more than a decade in Azkaban.

Just like it had last night, it felt completely natural when Sirius embraced him, as if their hopeful plans from the year before had come to fruition after all, and they had been de facto father and son this whole time. For a long moment Sirius simply held him without saying a word, and Harry tried to take in every moment as best he could, for he knew all too well that this wasn't going to last. It never did.

'I'm sorry that I can't stay,' Sirius said solemnly, pulling away and putting his hand on Harry's shoulder. 'That Skeeter article, it makes it dangerous for me to be anywhere now, even as Padfoot.'

'Then why did you come here?'

'I wanted to say goodbye properly. I don't know when I can see you again.'

At this Harry's heart sank, his entire situation just getting worse and worse with every passing minute. 'No,' he said firmly, looking Sirius in the eye. 'That's not good enough.'

Sirius blinked at him, surprised by Harry's bluntness. 'Please understand, there are things I need to do right now. I have to help Lupin. He's getting the old crowd together, people who will believe us. People who can do something.'

'And what about me?' he asked in frustration. The anger he had suppressed earlier began to rear its head, unable to stand this injustice. 'Dumbledore is making me go back to the Dursleys. He's dumping me there, and now you can't tell me when I can see you again?'

'Dumbledore thinks this is what's safest for you.

'That's bull shit!'

Sirius seized him with both hands, the gesture jolting him a little. 'Dumbledore and I…our greatest priority is for you to be safe. Everything we arranged with Snape, and anything we do from now on is solely about keeping you safe.'

Still frustrated with him Harry pushed his hands away, feeling worse with every passing minute.

'I understand what it's like to leave this place and go home to people you despise. But you have to do it.'

'The Weasleys want me to come, Mrs Weasley said so herself,' he argued, keeping his voice down in the hope Dumbledore didn't hear too much. 'Why am I any less safe there than I am with Muggles who don't give a shit about me?'

'I know you like the Weasleys, and Dumbledore speaks highly of them. But Dumbledore has decided what's safest for you, and I trust him. I trust him with your life.'

Harry just stared at him, and he chose words that he knew would go deep. 'You said my mum and dad wanted you to be my guardian. They wanted you, not Dumbledore. Why aren't you deciding what happens to me?'

These words had the effect Harry was hoping for. Sirius' expression changed, taken aback by Harry bringing up his parents and their wishes, the very wishes Sirius had explained to him last year. But it seemed to backfire on him, because if anything Sirius doubled down.

'I am deciding,' he said hesitantly, speaking slowly while gauging Harry's reaction. 'I'm deciding that I trust Dumbledore's judgement, and so should you.'

With a great sigh of frustration Harry turned away, feeling any semblance of control slipping through his fingers. Sirius was not taking his side at all. He didn't understand.

'I swear, Harry. I will come see you soon.'

'When?' he demanded.

'Your birthday.'

Harry's face fell again. 'In a month?'

'Harry, this is the least of the problems we're facing right now,' Sirius implored, pleading with him to listen. 'All the stories in the Prophet and Fudge's behaviour…it will not go away. Fudge will decide that Barty Crouch Jnr was a manic who kidnapped you because he was a nutcase, and that Dumbledore took advantage of the situation to gain power.'

Harry nodded, following along. 'And me? How will he explain what I'm saying about Voldemort?'

'He'll say you were traumatised by Cedric's death, and that you'll believe anything Dumbledore tells you. Don't forget, Voldemort doesn't want you to be believed either. He's already set up a plausible explanation for what happened to you, and you'll be discredited at every turn. Lucius Malfoy is probably already at the Ministry by now, ready to kiss whatever arse he needs in order to maintain his own credibility against you.'

'Dumbledore wants me to keep telling the truth,' Harry said quietly, glancing back at him. Ron, Hermione and Dumbledore stood a distance away, lingering there awkwardly as Dumbledore looked up at the clouds. 'But if Voldemort's going to discredit me, what's the point?'

'Voldemort won't hide forever,' Sirius implored, putting his hands on Harry's shoulders again. 'One day the truth will come out, and you'll be able to tell the world that your story never wavered. You told the truth, and you never gave up on it.'

'Okay,' Harry breathed, taking this in. 'I get it.'

Sirius looked past him now, his body becoming tense as Harry whirled around. Dumbledore was striding off into the distance leaving Ron and Hermione behind, and out of nowhere appeared Crookshanks, vocalising up at Sirius with a clear sense of urgency.

Sirius turned his attention back and looked Harry in the eye, holding his gaze. 'Harry, I need you to listen. I need you to really hear me, because this is important.'

'I'm listening.'

'I want you to know how proud I am of you. How proud your mum and dad would be.'

At these comments Harry visibly flinched, looking away. This was not what he wanted to hear right now…he wasn't ready for this. Without warning a wave of emotion struck him heavily, and it nearly unseated him after feeling so level headed all morning.

Harry shook his head, struggling to articulate the sheer magnitude of his failures. His parents had tried to save him in the graveyard, but he didn't make it. Nothing he did saved himself, he did nothing worthy of earning anyone's pride.

'I didn't do anything.'

Sirius wouldn't hear of it. 'You faced Voldemort, and you lived. You faced him Harry, and you held your head high.'

'No, I didn't,' he said, pleading for Sirius to understand that he wasn't deserving of pride. Against his will his eyes welled up, forcing him to look at the ground as he tried to speak around the lump in his throat. 'I couldn't…I obeyed him, I told him things.'

Again Sirius just shook his head, his hands on Harry's shoulders gripping him. 'You faced him, and you survived. I am proud of you Harry, nothing will ever change that. You hear?'

At his feet Crookshanks continued circling, vocalising even louder. The longer Sirius delayed the more urgent he became, and soon he reached up and extended his claws into the leg of Sirius' trousers. Sirius gave a startled yelp and then admonished the cat, trying to shake him off.

'Snuffles!' Ron called out, he and Hermione starting to hurry over. 'You have to go. Now.'

'You did as much as your mother and father would have done,' Sirius said fiercely. 'I can give you no higher praise than that.'

Sirius hugged him tightly, holding him close as the horrible sense of failure began to ease. Sirius didn't think he had failed, he understood that he just needed to survive, even if that meant submitting to Voldemort's will. Clinging to him Harry wished this moment could last for hours, that he and Sirius never needed to be apart. It should have been like this all along, it should have been Sirius who raised him just as his parents had wanted.

'I have to go,' Sirius said hurriedly, wrenching himself away. He looked worried now, his eyes darting past Harry and then back to him. 'I'll see you soon – I promise.'

Before Harry could say even a single word of response Sirius had transformed. Ahead of him Crookshanks had already touched the knot at the foot of the Whomping Willow, making for Padfoot's safe passage as he bounded towards the small opening at the base of the trunk. In no more than a few seconds he was completely gone, disappeared beneath the trunk as he fled to the safety of the Shrieking Shack, and then somewhere else unknown.

Harry just stood there in disbelief, feeling cheated by Sirius' hurried departure. There wasn't the opportunity to say goodbye, nor for Harry to thank him for everything – for being there with Dumbledore when he was missing, for comforting him as he recounted his story, for staying with him during the night. And now Sirius was gone again, and there was no telling when he would be back.

Behind him there was the sound of hurried footsteps, and then Ron and Hermione were by his side, urgently making him start walking with them.

'Just be cool,' Ron panted. 'We're taking a walk, that's all.'

Harry followed their lead and fell into step alongside them. As they walked he looked over his shoulder, and from around the curve of the hill appeared Dumbledore in the company of half a dozen others. From a distance it was difficult to tell, but there didn't seem to be a friendly vibe.

'Who are they?'

'Ministry Officials,' Hermione said lowly. 'Someone must have tipped them off we were out here. Dumbledore heard them coming, he went to head them off.'

'And we're on a perfectly innocent walk,' Ron stated, looking around at Harry. 'Not conspiring with a mass mur…'

He trailed off when he saw Harry's face, realising that he had been crying. Ron gave a low sigh, reaching up and clasping Harry on the back of the shoulder.

'You know whatever happens next, we're with you,' he murmured. 'We're in this together, mate.'

'Yeah, we are,' Hermione added, taking Harry's hand in hers. 'We're with you.'

Appreciating these words Harry hastily wiped his eyes dry, embarrassed nonetheless. But he didn't get the chance to speak, for Ron was giving Hermione an awfully strange look, one that nearly stopped Harry in his tracks.

'What's wrong with you?' Harry asked, wondering if it was because Hermione was holding his hand. 'Ron?'

Ron completely ignored him, looking past him at Hermione, his eyes wide as he hissed her name. 'Hermione…Hermione!'

Hermione too seemed perplexed, but when Ron jerked his head awkwardly she looked around, and then her eyes too widened in alarm. They both stopped in their tracks, as did Harry – and then his heart leapt into his throat. Inexplicably, Hermione had raised her wand at him, and his mind raced to a million different places as his heart began thundering in his chest.

'What the hell are you doing?' he demanded in outrage, pointing his own wand at her in return.

'Drop your bag – slowly,' Hermione whispered. 'Harry, drop your bag.'

'What?'

Without explaining Ron came forward, the touch of his hand on Harry's back startling him, making him lurch. But with careful dexterity Ron slipped his fingers under the strap of the bag slung over his shoulder. He slid it down his arm and then moved away, carrying it aloft as though holding a grenade.

'Do it now!' Ron hissed, holding the bag out in front of himself. 'Quick – she's taking off!'

With something resembling a shriek Hermione lunged towards the bag and wrestled with it, while Harry just watched on in bewilderment. He looked up the hill towards Dumbledore and the Ministry officials, glad to see they were departing already, that they weren't witness to this commotion.

Meanwhile the contents of Harry's schoolbag were being tossed astray, the slab of chocolate from Pomfrey, bottles of Dittany and pain potion thudding to the ground. It went completely unnoticed by Ron and Hermione, the latter who continued fighting an unseen adversary.

'I've got her!' she declared, looking at Ron wildly. She clutched Harry's schoolbag against her chest, elbow deep inside it. 'I've got her!'

As if forgetting about Harry completely Ron and Hermione took off towards a nearby tree, whispering excitedly between themselves. Still bewildered Harry just watched them go, lowering his wand which had still been raised in self-defence. Muttering under his breath he hastened to collect his belongings strewn about on the grass, and then hastened to follow.

'What the hell are you two doing?'

Calming themselves, Ron and Hermione looked at him with equally ridiculous grins. Tossing his schoolbag aside Hermione thrust a small glass jar in his face.

'Rita Skeeter is an unregistered Animagus,' she declared proudly. 'She can turn into a beetle.'

Harry looked at the jar in disbelief. Inside were a few twigs and leaves, and one large, fat beetle. 'That's never – you're kidding –' he whispered, taking the jar and lifting it to his eyes.

'No, I'm not,' said Hermione, beaming. 'I almost caught her the night you disappeared lurking around me and Ron, and just now she was on your bag. Look very closely, and you'll notice the markings around her antennae are exactly like those foul glasses she wears.'

Harry looked, and saw that she was quite right. Slowly pieces began to fall into place, and he remembered the beetle on the statue the night Hagrid talked to Madam Maxime, and the day they saw Malfoy under the tree talking into his hand. If Rita Skeeter could transform into a beetle she could have placed herself anywhere to get a story, she could have spied on absolutely anything.

'What are we going to do with her?'

Ron laughed shortly. 'I said we should stick her on a lump of dung where she belongs. But Hermione's up for some good old fashioned blackmail.'

'She's to keep her quill to herself for a whole year, or I'll spill the beans on her being an unregistered Animagus. Let's see if she can't break the habit of writing horrible lies about people.'

Sharing their satisfied smiles, Harry passed the glass jar back. 'Yes to the blackmail. But we should turn her in to Dumbledore. He needs to know how she got in to Hogwarts, how she got in to the Hospital Wing.'

For these few brief minutes Harry had forgotten all about Sirius, and it was a relief, even though the heartache of missing him was returning already. As they stowed Skeeter in his schoolbag and continued feigning their innocent walk around the grounds, Ron repeated what he had said earlier.

'You know whatever happens next, we're with you,' he murmured. 'We're in this together, mate.'

'Yeah, we are,' Hermione added, taking Harry's hand in hers again. 'We're with you.'

'Thanks,' he said genuinely though he was certain none of them really knew how trying the coming weeks and months would be for them. Trying to lighten the conversation he looked towards Hagrid's Hut which was not far away. 'We should stop in. Have that cuppa.'

'I reckon that's decided,' Ron agreed, pointing out Fang who was already bounding towards them across the grounds. 'How long should we stay?'

Grateful that Ron and Hermione would make any number of excuses to get him out once he'd had enough, Harry shrugged. 'I dunno. Let's see how bad the Rock Cakes are.'

'Usual signal?' Hermione suggested, waving her hand to Hagrid who had stepped outside upon seeing their approach. 'Coughing fit?'

'We can blame the lock down,' Ron decided, rushing forward to intercept Fang who looked just about ready to bowl them over. 'Here boy, come here!'

While Fang excitedly lunged at Ron, covering him in slobber as he eagerly wagged his tail, Harry looked down towards Hagrid who was patiently waiting for them on his front porch. In the brief delay he mentally steeled himself, knowing that he needed to not only get through seeing Hagrid, which he wanted to do, but also get through seeing the Diggorys.

The notion of dealing with anything beyond those two things was completely lost on him, as was the idea that he was free - something that didn't quite feel like it had sunk in yet. As Hagrid hugged him tightly and tearfully offered tea Harry focused on saying and doing all the right things, a clear goal to simply get through the morning.

What was to come after that, he didn't know.

A/N So sorry for being late with this chapter - life has been hectic, but hope you enjoyed.

Next two chapters I really enjoyed writing, it took a major plot rewrite to make them happen, but I'm glad I did it! Please drop a review and let me know if you enjoyed the chapter.