Harry sighed as he waited for Ron to run through the 9 ¾ barrier. He had spent the last half of the summer at The Burrow. Living with the Weasleys had almost stopped the nightmares-almost.

Even though an entire summer had passed since the return of Voldemort, Harry was still haunted by the memories of that night. To many times had he woken up in a cold sweat, just barely suppressing a scream behind his clenched teeth.

He tried to forget, to push it out of his head-but Cedric's face and Voldemort's voice ate away at Harry.

Before Harry could continue brooding over the memory, Ron and Mrs. Weasley ran through the portal. "Ron! It's you're fifth year!" Mrs. Weasley reprimanded him in her loud, commanding voice. "How could you forget something as important as under…"

"MUM!" Ron interrupted as his ears turned red with embarrassment. He struggled with his truck as he tried to steer towards The Hogwarts Express. Harry cracked a smile as he pushed his own truck towards the train. "You don't have to tell the world!"

Mrs. Weasley frowned at him, but her frown suddenly turned into half smile. "Just so then you'll remember next time Ron," she teased.

Ron groaned in frustration as he turned his back and continued to the train. Mrs. Weasley chuckled, and then turned towards Harry. "Are you sure you'll be fine Harry?" she asked, worry in her eyes.

Harry nodded his head, and forced a smile. In truth, he didn't know how he was going to get through the upcoming year.

Mrs. Weasley wasn't fooled, but she let it drop. "IF you ever need someone to talk to, Harry, don't hesitant to sent an owl," Mrs. Weasley said as she looked him in the eye.

Harry opened his mouth to say something, but he was interrupted when Mr. Weasley ran over. "Ginny went off with some of her friends-she's on the train right now." Mr. Weasley looked at Harry. "I saw Hermione get on the train about a minute ago."

"Well, I better be getting onboard too," Harry said as started to turn.

"Harry." Mrs. Weasley enveloped him in a motherly hug. "You take care of yourself," she whispered into his hair.

She let go, and Harry stared at Mrs. and Mr. Weasley-stared at the people that had all but adopted him. He didn't know how he could ever thank the Weasleys. For the umpteenth time that summer, he tried to. "Mrs. Wealsey-Mr. Weasley…er…"

But something behind Mrs. Weasley caught Harry's eye. Glancing around her, he saw a large black dog weaving in and out of the crowd. A flutter of joy stuck in Harry's chest, hope that it was Sirius-but a stab of fear soon followed. That couldn't be Sirius-he wouldn't risk going out in this big of a crowd. It was too dangerous.

"Harry, what's wrong?" Mrs. Weasley asked, concerned.

"I thought I saw-I thought that…" He saw the dog again. "There!" he said as he turned Mrs. Weasley around.

She finally saw what he was talking about. "Oh my…Arthur!" Mr.Weasley turned around. "Is that…"

"Not Sirius!" Mr. Weasley whispered. Mrs. Weasley furiously hushed him.

"I'm going to see if it's him," Harry said as he started walking over-but Mrs. Weasley suddenly grabbed him. "No Harry!"

He looked at Mrs. Weasley for an explanation. "Harry, don't. He might have to do something for Dumbledore-you shouldn't interfere. Besides, you have to get on the train."

As if responding, the train whistle blew, warning all to get aboard. Harry frowned, but nodded. Hoping-that if the dog was his godfather-that nothing would happen to him, Harry pushed his trolley towards the train. Mr. Weasley helped him his things on.

"Harry! I found Hermione-we've got a compartment," Ron cried as he ran down the train to help Harry carry his things.

"Ron, you won't guess who I just saw," Harry urgently whispered.

db

But Harry didn't see the dog turn into a dark corner on the platform. He didn't see the woman cloaked in a plum-red cloak nod at the dog, her eyes taking in even the slightest movement-her ears catching even the slightest cough.

Harry didn't see the dog motion his head towards the train-he didn't see the woman slink towards the train, unheeded by the crowd. One doesn't need an invisibility cloak to be invisible.

Arabella Figg smiled to herself as she boarded Hogwarts Express, not sure of what lied ahead. But then again, with Voldemort back, who could be sure.

"Come on Snuggles," she mischievously told the dog. "All aboard! Next stop, Hogwarts, the return of Voldemort, the reinstatement of the Order of the Phoenix, and other unlikely occurrences."

The dog gave her a dying look of disgust.