Hey- might be getting somewhere near finishing this fic! I mean within this year so don't worry too much, haha! Also there's lines from 'It's Oh So Quiet' by Bjork which I don't own because I'm not her :P
On yet another Saturday before Halloween Harry finds himself standing in front of the lock memorising the layout of each layer three more times before it opens with a mere click.
The magic curls away from the door, passing back into the walls and lightly framing the now slightly open door. Despite normally being one to appreciate such spectacles Harry is honestly so tired of being there that the view is met only with faint interest and a short 'oh'.
"That- that didn't take so long." He waits, staring at the wood for a moment more. With the block out of the way he can feel the power of the stone much more strongly. Carefully he pushes the door open, letting out tendrils of magic to detect any more locks or traps that might be waiting for him.
There is nothing in the next room so he steps inside, making sure to leave the door open in case it couldn't be opened from his side. Curiously there is a checkered floor. Harry thinks little of it given the strange order of rooms throughout the rest of the castle.
The next room is empty too and the door unlocked so he follows straight through into the next. This room finally has something in it.
Harry can sense immediately that this is Snape's room. The cauldrons steaming away on the huge tabletop don't hurt his guess but mostly he can tell from the magic keeping various potions in stasis, stirring spoons and controlling temperature. He wonders for a moment how much the man must have practised to be able to project his magic this skillfully.
Harry makes sure to touch nothing- the man seems to disapprove of him enough as it is.
The room beyond that is much smaller than all of the previous ones. Harry steps inside.
In the middle of the floor is a deep red stone- almost the size of his fist. He picks it up and slips it into his pocket.
The boy barely manages to contain the strength of it and knows he'll have to store it somewhere safe and warded until he can get it to Rowena. He only hopes that he doesn't encounter Professor McGonagall or Dumbledore on the way back to his dormitory.
In the middle of nowhere there is a house almost concealed completely by weeds. The building is on the edge of collapsing, structural damage slowly wearing away at the crude magic keeping it standing.
In one moment it is standing. In the next it is ablaze with fire consuming what is left after its abandonment.
A man in a suit stands outside, a broken ring in his palm. He throws the twisted metal into the fire.
An angry scream can just be heard behind the sound of old wood groaning and collapsing in on itself.
Several weeks pass with little happening. Ron and Neville continue to improve, Harry and Hermione continue to be better than everyone else and Gryffindor decides as a house that there's no point in going to History of Magic. So they don't. Even Percy the prefect declares the class a waste of time. Draco still hasn't come back and aside from the few Ravenclaws who steadfastly avoid Tim's lessons Ravenclaw's average grades drop to their lowest in over three hundred years..
One thing that has happened is Harry's secret meetings with his godfather. Harry never had a clue how the man found his way in but every time he turned around the man seemed to be there.
The boy knows his mother asked him to wait until she was there to meet with the man but so far he hadn't done anything even remotely harmful to him and he's actually pretty funny. Harry wonders if his dad was similar- according to Sirius they were best friends.
After every meeting he speaks to Rowena and they begin to form a plan between them.
In two days his mother will arrive for the first official time Harry meets Sirius. He's excited to see both of them and has made his godfather promise to pretend they're meeting for the first time. The man seemed pleased by this suggestion, laughing like it's all a joke- Harry supposes it is in a way except that hopefully his mom will never know the punchline.
Sirius is dressed smartly to meet her. Or the boy thinks that's the impression he's trying to make. Judging from the expression on his mom's face Harry is unsure whether she has even noticed Sirius because of the strange assortment of colours the Headmaster is wearing.
"It's nice to finally meet my godson and his guardian." Sirius says calmly. Jodi's gaze finally snaps to him. She nods with pursed lips.
"Jodi Mills." There's an awkward pause as everyone looks at each other, "And you are Sirius Black, aren't you?" The man nods.
"Yes. I am." Nobody speaks for quite a while.
"Would anybody like a lemon drop?" Dumbledore offers, holding out the bowl.
No one says anything.
Harry looks at Dumbledore who looks back at Harry. The Headmaster takes a sweet for himself.
The silence continues.
Dumbledore takes another sweet…
Harry looks at them curiously and shrugs, taking one. They'll probably be there for a while.
It's oh so quiet…
The Headmaster pops another lemon drop in his mouth.
It's oh so still…
Half of the bowl is missing now but no one has spoken.
In this room…
And so peaceful until Jodi sighs, looking at Harry's godfather skeptically.
"So. I suppose you'll want to know about Harry's life with me?" She arches an eyebrow and Sirius briefly glances to Harry from whom he has heard all about Harry's life up until this point. Eventually he nods, smiling.
"Yes. I do. I was best friends with his dad so anything you can tell me about how his son's grown up- I'd be grateful." Jodi gives an odd smile and the two finally sit down.
"I think I can do that." Says the sheriff.
When it finally comes to the time when Jodi has to leave the two adults seem to be getting on quite well. For appearances Sirius has asked Harry a few questions about his life and friends and family which the boy has answered dutifully.
"Hey- Sirius." Jodi says, hand hovering above the portkey. The man raises his eyebrows in question, "If you ever want to visit and see where Harry's grown up you're welcome." She grins at him and Sirius smiles back.
"I'd love to. I'll send an owl." Jodi nods.
"Good evening Headmaster Dumbledore, Sirius. Look after yourself Harry." The boy smiles and all three respond in kind before both the pen and Jodi disappear.
Dumbledore looks at his empty bowl of lemon drops in mourning.
Suddenly- and finally- the end of October nears. Various members of the school who still attend Tim's classes seem to have been doing a zombie act for the duration of the month which Harry would find vaguely impressive if it weren't so creepy. He half wonders if he should start gearing up for a zombie apocalypse.
Hermione already has. She carries around a small bag with her, enchanted by Harry upon her request to hold a lot more than it should and have anti-breakage, anti-spoilage and anti-spillage charms active on the things inside. On various occasions he has seen her fill her plate beyond an amount she could ever eat, shoving bits and pieces into her bag while she chats with Ron who is so busy devouring his own food he doesn't notice.
He thinks he should perhaps be a little concerned for her considering the amount of survival books he has seen arrive via owl but passes the hobby off as harmless. After all if there's an apocalypse he'd prefer have a survival expert for a best friend.