Hey everyone,
So last chapter had a few alterations as I made the mistake of adding Mrs. Weasley, Ginny, Neville, Luna and Collin to the reading group even after they were taken up the staircase. I fixed this and feel a little stupid for making mistakes like that. Then again, I am only human and to make mistakes like that is natural.
Anyway, this chapter will probably be more about Hari and what he goes through as he talks with Snuffles than what goes on between the Queen and those she is with. Though I will be honest, neither group is going to experience anything even remotely positive. This is where the hurt/comfort really comes into play.
Stay strong, guys,

Venquine1990
PS. Inspiration comes from Leonette, check out their stories.

26th of December 1976
Hari's Room, Royal Castle
Hari's POV

Just in case. Three words that, once upon a time, gave me great confidence and filled me with relief and reassurance. Three words that made me believe that, whoever had given me my cloak and then had been generous enough to give it back to me, had my best interest at heart and wanted to see me remain safe and sound.
Three words of which I now realize the true meaning. And combined with what I now remember having shortly thought and believed when I was in the Hospital Wing, when all this stuff that happened in my First Year was over, do I now have nothing but fear and concern in my heart, making me dazed as I sit down.

Snuffles is still in his dog form, yet I look at him and the dog transforms, taking on his human form as he comes to sit next to me and I ask: "Can I be honest with you?""Always." The man softly tells me and I take a deep breath before I say: "I'm scared." Two words I know no one wanted to hear me say only a few weeks ago.
Yet even the time I spent hiding under the tree at the ruined Transfigurations Courtyard and hidden by a whole bunch of secrecy charms seems like they are an even longer time ago than the events we are currently reading about. Then Snuffles helps to keep me in the here and now as he asks: "Of what Dumbledore did?"

But I shake my head and say: "Of what he could be doing – right now, I mean." The man looks at me confused, but I say: "Sirius, just think. Dumbledore is the most powerful wizard of his age and of our century. He knows almost everything about Voldemort and what he doesn't know, he suspects and is right in his suspicions.
But what is he doing with it? Even now? Nothing? A war that lasted eleven years, that has currently been going on for six, and what is the most powerful, skilled, strategy-wise wizard of the 20th century using to try and end it? Not his friends, not experts that have been fighting the Dark Arts for years, if not decades.
Not all the contacts and acquaintances he has made during his long and glorious career. Not sources that he has available and of which he knows they have the experience to deal with magic like the stuff he suspects Voldemort to use. No, he uses new blood. He takes on newly graduates and tells them they're capable of fighting in a war.
I mean, look at the Order of the Phoenix. How many of those members were between their teens and their twenties? And why would Dumbledore not put people like Slughorn, Sinistra or Madam Rosemerta in the Order? Why are only Hagrid and McGonagall members? Why were Kingsley and Tonks the first Aurors he added?"

By now Sirius seems onto what I mean and I have jumped off my seat on my bed, pacing around the room, unable to form a decent path as I feel too hurt, too betrayed, too used. "So many lives, Snuffles. So many innocents that were killed because Dumbledore mistook skill for war experience. So much blood that was needlessly spilled.
FOR MERLIN'S SAKE THAT MAN IS HEAD OF THE INTERNATIONAL CONFEDERATION OF WARLOCKS! AM I SUPPOSED TO BELIEVE THAT THEY DIDN'T OFFER THEIR HELP OR THE SKILLS OF THEIR OWN COUNTRIES? THAT SUCH OFFERS WEREN'T MADE? NOT EVEN ONCE!"
And while Snuffles doesn't say anything, can I tell by the look on his face that he doesn't believe in that being true anymore than I do and I snarl: "Exactly! But what does Dumbledore do? He puts a Quidditch captain and a bunch of pranksters in charge of keeping Magical England safe. Why? Because they're skilled in magic.
Lockhart was skilled with his charms and the Obliviate spell, but I would never even think to say oh yeah, we can use him, he will help us fight, he will save us. So why does Dumbledore think that people like mum and dad can win him this war? Why is he willing to take such risks? Because of people like Lestrange?"

Yet at this I turn to Snuffles, yet instead of him looking at me, do I see his visage of when he fell through that cursed Veil. I take a horrified step back and look around, yet to my shock am I back in that horrible room. The destructive Veil, the raised stage, the human-sized stands, the many doors that have been forced open.
I then feel something hard and sturdy behind me and turn around. Yet I see nothing, only Dumbledore looking at what I don't want to see, horror and guilt on his face as he looks past me, something he has been doing all year. And then I hear the one thing I want to hear, that I am desperate to hear, that brings tears to my eyes.
A voice, a voice that means the world to me, that I want to hear until my dying day, slowly becoming louder, I turn around and see Sirius rush at me. I rush at him as well and grip onto him, crying and weeping and rambling in utter relief, utter sorrow and pure joy. I sink through my legs and Sirius holds onto me as he sags down as well.

"Harry, come back to me. Come back to me, Harri. Please, please come back. Come back, Hari." I hear the man tell me and this confuses me as I am holding onto him. I open my blurry, tear-shattering eyes and gasp as slowly but surely my surroundings seem to change before my eyes, that dreadful room vanishing slowly but surely.
Then I realize it. I'm not in the Chamber of Death of the Department of Mysteries inside the Ministry for Magic. I'm in my room, the room given to me by my grandparents. The room that is part of the castle that my family has actually been staying in whenever they are the royals of Ariador instead of the Potters of England.
And as I realize this and as I see my room returning to my sight, do I feel Sirius sag further down against me and he whispers: "Thank goodness, you're back." And I hold onto him tighter, feeling stupid as I realize I have been calling him by his old name this whole time. "Snuffles, I'm sorry." I whimper, but the man shakes his head.

"You're healing, pup. You're finally letting go." But I shake my head at this and say: "I didn't let go. I relived it. Saying that – that horrible name while looking at you, it – it brought everything back. I – I thought I was back there, back in that horrible room, that I – that I –." But I can't finish what I try to say and just whisper: "I can't."
And Snuffles whispers: "And you won't. I won't play any real forward, front line role in this war. I won't let my need to help others trick me into making mistakes like that. Never again, Hari, never again." Yet this confuses me and I say: "But – but what happened –." Yet Snuffles won't let me finish as he strongly says:
"Was neither your fault nor mine. It was the work of Death Eaters and Voldemort, the same Death Eaters and the same Voldemort that you just admitted to fearing to seeing your parents go up against." "But that's because they're not ready!" I say, not really understanding why I would say such a thing and Snuffles asks:
"And when I died, were you ready to face those Death Eaters? Were you ready to face Voldemort?" At which I put my head back on his shoulder, knowing that he is indeed right and that it took Dumbledore dying for me to finally get the experiences I needed to be able to fight in the war and lead it towards its end.

Yet then I remember what Merden told me, of how the end of the war should have been much sooner and how it should have been without all of the horrors and losses that it included and this reminds me of what scared me earlier on, before my own mind started playing tricks on me and before my worst memories resurfaced.
"Snuffles, Dumbledore died before the war ended. And before he died, he told me only some of the things he was sure about when it came to Voldemort. And whenever he told me those things, he kept telling me that telling others, other than Ron and Hermione, wasn't safe. Yet he kept telling others that he had orders for us.
He was constantly playing a two-sided game, telling some people one thing and others another. He kept telling me so often that this was my mission, only mine, that when people started offering their services, I just refused to accept it, because he had already died and I believed that it would disgrace what he died for.
And with what Merden said and what I see when looking at how this war is being handled – there are just – just – just so many similarities. It's the whole reason, or at least one of the reasons, that the war lasted eleven years. Why that – that – that – that weapon was created. Because Dumbledore just – just – just didn't do enough."

At this Snuffles pulls me closer and I whimper: "And I can't lose anyone to him. Not anymore, Snuffles. I – I can't fight. Not while all I can think of is the knowledge that, if I let Dumbledore know what I know, he will just use it to make the same decisions, the same mistakes and that – that – that I – that I will –."
But here I break down again, unable to voice how horribly scared I am that people like Cedric, Colin or even Snuffles himself will be lost to me again. And Snuffles just holds me tighter, not saying a word or trying to assure me that this won't happen, just holding me and offering me the silent, steady comfort of his form and hug.
And while others may have wanted for him to say things like that won't happen or we know how to prevent it now, do I know why Snuffles isn't telling me this. We may know what is going to happen in the future, but the past is already changing and that can cause factors that we can't predict or plan ahead for.
And the knowledge that Snuffles is taking that into account, that this is why he won't reassure me that he won't die, scares me horribly, but also makes me feel warm as it proves that Snuffles takes everything I went through seriously and that he doesn't consider me some little kid that needs to be comforted with empty words.
I cuddle my face deeper into his robe and shrink in on myself, Snuffles moving with me until I feel as if every bit of my form is encased in his protective, caring form. And while I keep crying, whimpering and trying to shrink down even further in on myself, do I take in all the love, all the warmth and all the strength that Snuffles offers me.

For the record, I had tears in my eyes for the better part of this chapter. Yes, even now, years after the book and later the movie were released, I still cry over the idea of Harry losing Sirius. That bond is just too special to me.

In another room
Amyna's POV

Argus Filch has always been someone who my son and his friends used as a butt of their jokes when they were voicing things they thought funny and more often than not they even used him as a target if they thought of a new potential prank or joke idea. I too lived through Hogwarts with him as caretaker during my years.
I never thought much of the Squib myself, though this was partially because I was raised a Black. But even after I met and fell in love with Charlus did my opinion of the man not get raised by all that much. So to then see four students, in either their sixth or seventh year, shivering and actually fearing the man astounds me.
Lindilwen, Molly, Fleur and I had instantly rushed for the four poor souls and helped them up the staircase. And to my utter gratitude had the castle accepted for them to be moved to the room I share with my husband, which has quite the nice lounge with a low fireplace and a gorgeous view of the Ariadorian Wildlands.
Molly is not entirely sure, but I whisper: "If they see something that isn't a castle, they might not have a relapse and believe them back in the situation that scared them." And my fellow mother had agreed with this knowledge and helped me seat the four of them closely together, in warm, comfortable chairs or couches if they so desired.

Luna and Colin had, without words, demanded to share a couch and Molly and I had taken Neville and Ginny under our wings respectively before I had called on the Water Elves. I had then turned to Fleur and Lindilwen and told them: "Go support the others. Leave these four to us." And they had reluctantly returned downstairs.
Yet when the door closes behind them going down, which happened just after Fleur explained the situation, do I hear Draco say something that instantly explains everything, yet it also horrifies me and intensifies my concern for the four kids I am sitting with. "Part of the new regime." The blonde seems to tell someone else.
This makes me look from the four of them, who seem to have lost themselves in staring outside, to Molly and the woman correctly interprets my questioning gaze as she shakes her head and says: "Ron, Hari and Hermione had been sent away on some strange secret mission that kept them out of Hogwarts when that happened."

I nod and when the Water Elves are here, do I motion for Molly to follow me, not just because I want more information into this new bit of concerning news, but also because I know that we will just be in the way of the experts and Molly gives Ginny one last, comforting hug before she joins me on the other side of the room.
I then use a bit of wizarding magic, hiding my wand so that none of the kids can see me do so, and make sure they can't hear us before I ask the one question that worries me the most: "Molly, who sent them on that mission?" And the woman looks away, an inner conflict of loyalty and loss of trust and belief waging in her gaze.
"Dumbledore." I whisper and the woman nods before she says: "I tried to stop them. I tried to make them realize –." But I stop her and say: "Dumbledore is powerful, Molly. He is powerful and his words hold great effect, especially on those that are loyal to him. You wouldn't disbelief his decision regarding Hari at first either.
It's not surprising that Dumbledore told them to take on this mission and to keep it quiet and that they believed in his trust in them, especially in times like the ones you seem to have gone through. It gave them confidence and strength in times where such factors were very small and hard to hold onto, am I right?" At this the woman nods.

I then turn to look at the kids, that are getting special treatment from the Water Elves who are obviously working their hardest to get the kids to feel better and say: "Dumbledore seems to have done a lot of bad things, both in life and in death. And while I don't like it, does it seem as if his scars run much, much deeper.
I can understand why, of course. He was someone everyone believed in. Someone whose name could rally up entire armies. Someone who gave others the impression that they could trust him and that he knew what was best. To then realize what all his plans actually caused, those are scars that leave worse marks than a cutting curse."
Molly nods and asks: "Is – is there anything we can do?" And I answer: "We need to help the others heal. But we also need to make sure to play open book with Dumbledore. I will have Hendros contact the other Elves. They will assemble armies and warriors and we will meet with Dumbledore. Show him our battle power.
He may have plans for that crazy little vigilante group of his, but by the sounds of what I've heard so far, those people are going to get scarred just like your daughter and my grandson. And the best way to prevent that is to take Dumbledore the reason to feel the need to see that vigilante group be formed, by presenting him with better wand power."

At this Molly smiles at me, looking hopeful and even a little teary eyed and I smile as I say: "I didn't win over the king of the Elves with just my looks, you know?" Making the woman laugh, her voice proving she has been in desperate need of some of my humor for a long time, which I really can't blame her for.
It's after all the whole reason I always encouraged James to become a prankster, to seek out laughter and to share it with the world whenever possible. It was my way to – selfishly so – get over the darkness that I later realized was my own upraising as well as the despair I felt over not being able to get pregnant for decades on end.
James was a miracle in more ways than one and while I will never forget his birth – for more than one reason – do I also understand where James and Sirius came from when they came up with the idea of creating Personas for the sake of their little group. After all, it takes a Black to understand the mind and plans of a Black.

Indeed, Amyna,
Okay, so neither of these stories ended with either Harry and Snuffles or Amyna, Molly and the kids rejoining the group and I know I should have, considering I made a mention of Amyna coming down at the end of last chapter, but it just didn't feel right considering how the chapter was forming itself.
So you can expect next chapter to be in Amyna's POV as well as she watches over her grandson, notices the little horror he seemed to have gone through and further proves herself a proper queen and loving grandmother. But what's this? Amyna's not the only one worrying for the young black-haired teenager?
Who else,

Venquine1990
PS. Inspiration comes from Leonette, check out their stories.