And No Man See Me No More

And Man See Me No More

Welcome to part 2! Wow, two parts in two days! I'll try to get part 3 up soon, but until then, please read this humble offering. Thankz to all who reviewed-Svolkame, =Skade= , and Incendio Venifica. Standard disclaimer applies. I have decided to hold a contest, of sorts. I am personally a H/G shipper, but I'm cool w/ all styles. Tell me whom you think Harry and Ron should be with in your reviews. The ones with the most votes by next Saturday get used. Thankz so much.

***

Sirius Black woke, drenched in sweat. 'It's ok, you escaped year before last.' He was shaking uncontrollably. 'Bait. Have to find bait.' He lurched from the cot, then grabbed his wand from the bedside table. His eyes widened suddenly, and he grinned. 'Of course! Why didn't I think of it before?!' He ran from his hotel room and down the hall. The elevator was taking forever, so he sprinted down the staircase two steps at a time. Mentally cursing his stupidity in all that unnecessary exercise, he Apparated to the home of an old friend…

***

Arabella Figg was sitting on her chesterfield, it's floral pattern completely obscured by crocheted doilies. Beside her Mundungus Fletcher was talking about an odd sense of Dark Magic permeating her neighborhood.

"Bella, it's simply unsafe for you right here, right now. The Potter boy will be fine, I'll see to it."

"It's not Voldemort we should be worrying about at this moment. He's back, but he's gathering his minions. That will take time. It's Cornelius who frightens me. Honestly," she said, smoothing her graying brown hair out of her face, "he's a danger, more than the Dark Lord."

"I fear for our cause too, but nothing we could do can change the fiber of a man. Fudge has his prejudices, and an ego the size of Big Ben, but we can't do anything."

"I suppose you are correct. But-"

"Bella, he'll be with Arthur most of the summer. He'll be fine."

Arabella stared at the craggy face of her oldest friend. "He's like family. For heavens sake, I babysat his father when I was his age! I care about him."

Mundungus took a deep breath. "We all do. He's our best shot. A shot in the dark, perhaps, but our only one."

***

Penelope Clearwater slogged through the old swamp. She pushed her damp brown curls from her forehead. 'If I get lost out here, it'll be like Shakespeare says – "And man see me no more". Next time I go home, it's to stay.' Twisting the diamond ring on her hand, she added 'Unless Percy finds a decent date for the wedding. And we can save enough to buy a house. And…' She stopped abruptly, startled by the ugly wooden mansion not five feet from her. 'How could I not have seen it?'

"Perhaps because we didn't wish you to see us," came an amused voice. Penelope stared at the houses porch. A man in dark red dress robes, his grey-streaked black hair tied into a braid. A woman with a cheerful countenance, her yellow robes perfectly matching her blond curls. Another woman, in dark robes, with dark red hair and soul-searching grey eyes. At her side stood two men, one tall and dark, in poison green robes trimmed in silver braid. The other had on simple scarlet robes, of a far more modern cut than those of the others, but still out of date, very 70s, maybe early 80s. But his face held her eyes for a long time. It was a face she knew, the face of Percy's brother's friend. Harry Potter's face. But it was far older, and the eyes- the eyes were a deep, warm cocoa.

"Who are you?"

"Your turn, James," the blonde said. "I explained last time."

"Hello, Penny. My name is James. James Potter. And this is Godric, Helga, Rowena, and Salazar. I believe you owe your time at Hogwarts to them."

As she fainted, Penelope heard Godric say, "Good God, Rowena, do your students never have gumption?"

***

Hello again. Please review. Thank you for reading. Hey- trivia points if you know where the title of the fic, The Reports of my Death Have Been Greatly Exaggerated, and parts 1 & 2 are from.