Ron's affirmation that Snape wasn't serious about giving Harry a detention proved to be incorrect. A week after the incident he suddenly addressed Harry at the end of a class, pleasantly informing him that he was expected in the Potions dungeon on Saturday evening. It was so unfair that Harry was ready to bluntly refuse the order, but thought better of it at the last moment.
If Snape thought he could settle the score that way, he was sorely mistaken. No amount of detentions could erase the grin that appeared on Harry's face every time he came face to face with his new Defense teacher. He was still wondering what made him remember the incident after a whole week when everything suddenly became obvious.
When Harry returned to the common room after his classes, he was greeted by a piece of parchment tacked to the announcement board, explaining that the probes for the House Quidditch teams were taking place on Saturday next. A small crowd gathered quickly around the note. It escaped nobody that for the first time in five years there was a vacation on Gryffindor team. What caught Harry, however, was that the probes and his detention started at the same time.
Any other time he wouldn't have worried too much about skipping the selection, but this year was different. It was on the tips of many tongues: Gryffindor needed a new team captain. He snapped the paper from the board and stormed out of the room, slamming the portrait behind. He was unaware of the many pairs of curious eyes that followed him. He didn't know what he would do when he found Snape, only that this time he had had enough of his games.
"Snape." Ron didn't loose time for long explanations. Even the youngest of first years knew of the mutual antipathy between Snape and Harry. After that he too ran from the room, determined to prevent his friend from doing anything stupid.
Harry was already in front of the teachers' lounge when he heard Ron's running steps behind. He knocked at the door and entered without waiting for an answer. In the corridor behind him Ron moaned and slowed down, anxiously listening for sounds from the other side. Everything was quiet. He turned the knob and pushed the massive door a little. If Harry was really in trouble him being there couldn't make things any worse.
The spacious room was cool and dim. Professors McGonagall and Flitwick sat comfortably in two bulky chairs in front of the cracking fire with two glasses of red wine and piles of parchment in front of them. Harry was standing before Professor McGonagall, looking embarrassed at his earlier outburst. Much to Ron's relief, Snape was nowhere to be seen.
"Naturally, I understand how you feel about the whole situation, Potter," Professor McGonagall was saying while taking off her glasses and massaging the bridge of her nose, "but I am in no position to revoke any punishment given by other professors in this school." Her voice was as firm as ever, but she sounded somewhat more sympathetic than was usual. "The only thing I can do is to mention Professor Snape's questionable behavior at our monthly meeting."
"No, thanks." Harry answered firmly. He was still clutching the Quidditch announcement in his hand. "It won't be necessary." He turned around, motioning for Ron to follow as he passed him on the way out. They walked in silence until they reached the end of the corridor, but as soon as they turned around the corner Harry exploded in a detailed and imaginative description of Snape's genealogy.
"What are you planning to do?" Ron asked pragmatically when Harry had calmed down.
"Nothing," Harry answered with a sigh, "you heard McGonagall. Snape's in his right to give detentions as it pleases him. Perhaps the others will wait for me after the probes," he added, thinking that even if they did the thrill of the probes was as good as gone.
"Don't go," was the majority's opinion on Saturday morning. The whole Gryffindor table sent furious looks in the direction of the teacher's table. They took the intent to disable their Seeker very close to heart. Angelina, Katie and Alicia swore to him in unison that nobody would never make any changes in the team without him, and Fred and George gave him ideas on how to make the floor look freshly washed by pouring water on it.
"Do you have any idea what can happen if you don't appear at detention?" One of the third years asked.
"You probably get another two in addition to the one you missed," answered Neville. He also added that he would sooner jump from the Astronomy tower than skip a detention with Snape, and Harry had to agree with that.
Plans of revenge were all that helped Harry to keep a smile on his face as he presented himself at Snape's dungeon five minutes before five and heard that his task consisted of searching for bezoars. Harry had seen bezoars before, and it didn't sound that terrible until he remembered that they were usually found inside the stomachs of goats. During two hours he had to work with his hands deep in revolting guts looking for knots of half-digested hair.
At first he hoped that he could finish his task quick enough to join his team at the Quidditch field, but after he surveyed his neat pile of bezoars and went to wash his hands, Snape's oily voice behind him announced that he had forgotten to cut them in halves and look inside, for once in a while certain valuable objects could be found there. By the time Harry managed to escape the dungeons he was hopelessly late.
Not even trying to look for his team, he headed directly for the Gryffindor tower. Ron and Hermione were sitting at the end of the stairs and waiting for him, looking very pleased with themselves for some reason. As soon as they saw Harry, Ron jumped to his feet and disappeared behind the portrait hole while Hermione hurried down the stairs.
"I don't want to see another bezoar in my life" was Harry's short synopsis of the time he spent in Snape's company. He meant it very seriously and hoped Hermione wasn't about to start a passionate lecture on their multiple properties and uses. She did nothing of the kind. In fact, she hardly listened to him, grabbing him by the arm and nearly dragging him to the entrance to the Gryffindor tower. When they reached the portrait hole she finally let him go, said the password (Lion heart), and stepped aside, inviting him to go ahead. Harry gave her a quizzical look and he stepped inside. From the excited looks of his friends he knew they had something prepared for him, but he wasn't ready for what followed.
His foot had activated a couple of strategically placed Dr. Filibuster's Fireworks that in their turn activated some more, and soon the common room was filled with loud exploding bangs, multicolor lights and loads of smoke.
Before he could open his mouth, the Weasley twins let out a war whoop, and all hell broke loose. The twins jumped on him, using the tickling charm with the precision of a professional and the mercy of the italian mafia. Katie Bell's spell caused Harry to levitate a good two meters above the floor, and somebody else made him spin in the air. His loud protests were drowned by the general laughter, and the calls for help he let out between waves of laughter didn't convince anybody.
After a while everyone got tired of swirling him around and allowed him to land on the floor. Somebody opened the window and the smoke dissipated, allowing Harry to see that he was surrounded by his fellow members of the Quidditch team. George sent a last twitching leg curse in his direction. He ducked the curse and stood up. His robes were a hopeless mess and his glasses had slid from his nose.
"What was all that for?" He asked, struggling in vain to arrange his robes.
"It's the Initiation Ceremony for Newly Elected Quidditch Captains. It's an antique Gryffindor tradition that goes back to the Middle Ages," Fred explained.
"I'm the captain?" Harry was breathless.
"Actually, we invented it for Oliver," George admitted, pretending to look uncomfortable at his brother's lie and not succeeding at all.
"But maybe it will go on for centuries from now on!" Fred beamed.
"I don't understand how they ever manage to talk us into it. Every time we swear we won't participate in such childish games, and every time we end up falling for it." Alicia said between quick breaths. The three girls looked as disheveled and red as Harry.
"I'm the captain?" Harry repeated, still not believing his ears.
"Yep." George confirmed. "You were elected captain by the unanimous votes of all but one members of the team."
"But I wasn't…" Harry stammered.
"Don't worry, you wouldn't have liked it anyway. You see, it's a difficult decision to choose a captain. He has to be the example for the Gryffindor house. We went through your whole biography, your grades, your known and rumored girlfriends…" Fred rambled, ticking off fingers as he went.
"Why don't you order them to shut up?" Ron made a long-suffering face and winked at him from behind the crowd of students. The twins came to attention and gave him a mocking salute. Harry grinned evilly.
"Damon McDougal. It will be a pleasure to play with you." An outstretched hand appeared under Harry's nose. Harry already knew the boy. He was a third-year, and had spent each one of his three years trying to stir a passion for muggle football among his fellow students.
Harry shook the extended hand and smiled back. His birthday wish had come true. He was the captain. He would lead the trainings, say the encouraging words and shake hands with the contrary captains at the beginning of each match. He was responsible for the whole team. And he was determined to make sure that this year the Quidditch cup carried their names once again.
The first game of the year was Slytherin versus Ravenclaw. Ravenclaw won with 210 to 90, and Harry was one of the first students to jump from his seat and applaud enthusiastically when Cho Chang got the Snitch right from under Malfoy's nose.
"I wonder how much Malfoy's father is really paying them, because seven Nimbus 2001s is too small a price for having such a worthless prat on the team," Ron mused on their way from the field. Snape overheard the conversation and took ten points from Gryffindor, but it couldn't cloud the joy at the humiliation of their enemy.
Shortly before Halloween Gryffindor had to play against Hufflepuff. It was the saddest game Harry could remember as he stood in the middle of the field under the drizzle, honoring Cedric's name with a minute of silence. The hole left in the Hufflepuff team by the death of their captain was a difficult one to fill, and the mood of the team was as grim as the rainy November day.
Harry had no particular desire to compete against them and wished with all his strength they could call it a draw. He remembered all too well the last time he had suggested a tie at the Triwizard Tournament. If he hadn't insisted they touched the cup together Hufflepuff would still have its old captain.
The pale boy with round glasses who had taken Cedric's place as Seeker guessed Harry's strategy right after the first time the Snitch appeared. When they both failed to grab the golden ball and it disappeared again he flew to Harry and grunted angrily: "You don't need to put up a show of magnanimity, Potter. Quit acting and play for real!"
Harry couldn't think of a worthwhile reply. The next time the Snitch appeared he went for it with full determination, increased by the fact that the Hufflepuff Seeker wasn't bad at all. His old Cleansweep 7 wasn't fast, but it kept crossing the Firebolt's path in a quite annoying and altogether effective manner. Harry closed his fingers around the ball in the same moment the other boy's hand touched his arm. The Hufflepuff team was better than they credited themselves, and he wished fervently they could get over their loss as soon as possible.
Between the games, the trainings and the classes the time passed incredibly quickly. Suddenly it was already Halloween, and the castle was being transformed into a picture from a tale. Harry, Ron and Hermione spent the morning at Hogsmeade, and after visiting Zonko's, the Owlery and Honeyduke's, the group ended up sitting in a warm and inviting corner at the Three Broomsticks with three mugs of Butterbeer on their table. Everything was perfect except for the fact that at the table nearest them a large group of Slytherins had gathered around Draco Malfoy, who was loudly boasting about his family's wealth.
"Father and Mother are giving an exclusive party at the Malfoy Manor," Malfoy was saying, "only the best of our kind are invited. It's a pity I must rot in this poor imitation of a school while the oldest and richest families of England are celebrating in my house," he whined, looking contemptuously at the others in the Three Broomsticks.
"It's a pity we must sit here listening to Malfoy while the rest of the people are enjoying Halloween," Hermione moaned, mimicking Draco's lazy drawl quite well.
"It's a pity the Malfoy Manor can't burn down together with all the Malfoy family and the rest of the best families of England." Ron continued between gritted teeth. He was in killing mood after having had Draco for partner in the last Potions class. Malfoy put two beetles too many in his own cauldron, causing the whole potion bubble over the edge and bore holes in his table. He solved the situation by claiming it was all Ron's doing. Snape jumped at the opportunity and Ron spent a whole afternoon putting together the bezoars Harry had cut open.
"Come on, Harry, it's your turn!" Hermione called after Harry continued to glare at Malfoy, failing to acknowledge the conversation around him.
"It's a pity we have to hide in the safety of Hogwarts while Voldemort is out there, getting stronger," he said finally. It wasn't what Hermione had expected, but Harry couldn't change his state of mind. He hadn't mentioned the Order of Phoenix once since he told Ron and Hermione all about it but it didn't mean he had forgotten the matter.
The news the Daily Prophet brought every day weren't exactly reassuring, and the approach of Halloween didn't help things. He had never given it a lot of thought before, but with the return of Voldemort the date had acquired a new sinister tone. It was the night when the dark forces got stronger and the frontiers between the dead and the living were blurred. It was the night his parents died, the only time of his life with them he ever remembered.
In spite Ron's and Hermione's efforts Harry's mood didn't get any better in the evening. Everyone around him was enjoying the Halloween party. Thousands of lights lit the Great Hall, tiny bats flew around the ceiling and the food was excellent as ever.
Smiling faces surrounded him, but he was finding it increasingly difficult to imitate their joyful moods. He was thinking of Lucius Malfoy, the Wizard Traditions Society, and the conversation he overheard in Knockturn Alley three years ago. The Malfoys had Dark tools hidden in their house. The purest families of wizards were coming there. It wouldn't be the first time Death Eaters attacked on Halloween. He couldn't sit there eating and laughing whilst at that precise moment cloaked shadows could be getting together, perhaps silent, perhaps laughing, and half an hour later appear at the doorstep of somebody's house and kill or torture its inhabitants.
After a while he excused himself, saying that he wasn't feeling well, and went upstairs to the empty dorm. He couldn't influence anything that was going on outside, but there was something inside the castle he could do. Harry opened his trunk and took out his Invisibility Cloak.
He hurried to the entrance to Dumbledore's office and approached the gargoyle, making sure that the cloak covered him completely. Suddenly he was beginning to doubt his good sense. True, he has gotten into forbidden places many times before. True, Dumbledore and everyone else were in the Great Hall and his chances of being caught were minimal. Entering the sanctuary of the headmaster's quarters seemed to be a crime worst than anything else he had done before. He almost wished he wouldn't able to guess the password, so that he could forget the whole idea and go back to the party and maybe finally talk to Sirius instead of blindly playing a game whose rules he didn't understand.
"Lemon sherbet." He whispered cautiously. Nothing happened. "Cockroach Clusters. Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans." It looked as though he was going to get his wish. He was starting to feel stupid staying there, recalling the names of all the sweets he ever tried in his life. He had already gone over all the Honeydukes stocks and that blasted gargoyle never budged an inch. He had had luck one time in the past, but it couldn't go on forever. He tried to think about something he hadn't named yet and found one last possibility.
"Canary Creams," he whispered, and to his delight the gargoyle guarding the entrance sprang aside, revealing the hidden stairs. Without taking off the cloak he cautiously ventured up the stairs and pushed the barely visible outline of the secret door. His heart stopped as soon as he stepped in. There was somebody inside. He sensed it instantly, first just a presence and then a light that shouldn't be there, the unmistakable glow of a Lumos charm.
There was the sound of something heavy falling to the floor and the light went out, leaving only the weak shining of the stone monolith to throw shadows on the walls. Harry froze in the middle of the doorframe, the hand on the doorknob and one foot still in the air.
Two thoughts crossed his head; the first that all the teachers were in the Great Hall, and the second that he had no chance to get his wand from under the cloak without revealing himself. His skin could sense the stare coming from the darkness. One agonizing second passed, and then a calm voice spoke ironically. "I don't know many people here that run around under Invisibility Cloaks, so I'll make a guess."
Could it be true or it was a play of his imagination?
"Harry? Ron? Hermione? Or the three of you together?" The voice asked. This time Harry was sure he recognized whom it belonged to.
His body relaxed and he breathed again. "You scared the life out of me!" He whispered back, his own voice shaking a little.
"Not as much as you out of me," the voice returned dryly. The light went on again and Harry was able to see the tall figure of his godfather. He took a step toward Sirius who extended his arm blindly and took the cloak off Harry's head.
"What are you doing here?" Harry asked louder, but still shakily. His encounters with Sirius were getting more and more exciting, almost too much for his taste.
"I was in the need of a rash escape, and the quickest route led to Hogwarts," Sirius answered. He bent down and picked the heavy volume from where it had fallen, leaving it on the pedestal. Harry had been right. The Book of Phoenix was there, waiting to be used. "Since then I've been stuck here waiting for Dumbledore to come and everybody else to go to sleep."
Harry sensed rather than saw Sirius' thoughtful look follow his and felt himself getting red. His godfather scrutinized him from head to foot, noted the Invisibility cloak he still held in his hands and put two and two together.
"Anything special that brings you here tonight?" His casual tone didn't fool Harry for a second. He had thought that being caught by Dumbledore was the worst thing that could happen. Now it occurred to him that meeting his godfather could prove to be much more unfortunate. After all, his finding out about the Order was Dumbledore's, not Sirius' idea.
"Ehh," he started vaguely. It had sounded more like a rhetorical question. A deep frown crossed Sirius' features and he looked at Harry with disappointment written all over his face. "Leave the Phoenix be, okay? It's not something that concerns you in the least." His tone held a note of authority Harry had never heard from his godfather before. It had made its effect. Harry was starting to regret being there, but a tiny voice at the back of his head kept telling him he was right. Stubbornly, he thought of the reason that brought him there in the first place.
"No." He answered rashly and stared at the man in front of him, challenging him argue. Sirius' frown flattened itself to be replaced by a somber expression. He had been expecting that answer.
"Harry…" Sirius started to say, but Harry didn't want to hear to any reasons.
"I'm tired of acting like nothing has happened! Voldemort has returned; he's getting his power back with every second that passes."
"He has his power back already, Harry." Sirius started to pace the room in long impatient steps. "You saw it with your own eyes. The fear is his strength, and in all the years of his sorry bodiless existence he never lost that power. His old servants came running at his beckon; the rest of the wizard world simply refuse to accept the possibility of his return."
"But I saw him! I saw the Death Eaters get together and plan future attacks," Harry exploded, all but shouting. "I heard their names! I heard Voldemort call Lucius Malfoy his faithful servant and he's still free to do what he pleases! Do you think I can sit here and eat pumpkin puddings while somebody may be dying tonight like my parents did?"
"One thing I can assure you, Harry. Lucius Malfoy isn't having any fun right now." Sirius' eyes twinkled in a way that suggested he knew something nobody else did, and Harry wondered what his godfather had been doing lately and what all that talk of a quick escape route was.
"What do you mean by that?" Harry asked skeptically.
"First things first. I don't need you to tell me what brought you here. I remember very well what James was like at your age. But I want you to promise you'll forget whatever you had in mind, and you can be sure that it's exactly what your father would do in my place," Sirius said.
"I can help," Harry repeated stubbornly. He knew he was fighting a lost battle and decided to use his last chance. "Why else did Dumbledore want me to be present at the Bonding?" He held the breath and waited for Sirius' reaction. An agreement would give him the reason; a denial at least would confirm his previous suspicions. Sirius stopped pacing and looked intently at Harry, weighing how much he was ready to know and how much he had found out already.
"Maybe he did." He admitted reluctantly. "You have incredible powers for your age, you have proved it often enough. But you still have a lot to learn, if only to have your wand ready when sneaking into prohibited places alone at night."
"I had my wand ready! Right here," Harry protested automatically while trying to remember in which one of his numerous pockets it was laying. Then he had to go through the embarrassing process of searching for it, all the while Sirius was staying there, looking at him with a smile on his face. He did have a point there. When Harry finally felt the piece of polished wood among all the stuff he had in his pockets it slipped right through his fingers and flew neatly into Sirius' hand.
"Right here," his godfather repeated, "but out of your reach. Happens a lot, and generally in nasty circumstances." He stuck both his and Harry's wands in his own pocket. "For God's sake, Harry, you are only fifteen years old! You can't expect to take down a grown powerful wizard!"
Harry was up to the challenge. "I don't need a wand for that." He answered very smugly. They had been doing wandless magic in Charms since the beginning of the semester, and he soon found out that he was quite good at it. If Sirius doubted his skill he was in for a big surprise. "Of course, it's always strongly desirable to get it back, that's why the wandless Summoning spell is so useful," he continued nearly quoting Professor Flitwick. With that he proceeded to deprive his godfather of both the wands with a fine movement of his wrist. His left hand closed around his prize, but far from using the advantage he chose to proceed with his lecture.
"Then comes the basic emergency stuff, nothing special, but some of that spells come in handy, too. Ferula!" The first help charm wasn't very appropriate for a wizard duel, but Harry managed to make the ropes tie themselves around Sirius' wrists and ankles, causing him to loose equilibrium and protest loudly.
"And this is not on our program at all, but I have also learnt a tickling charm. Want me to demonstrate?" To his delight Sirius pleaded mercy right away, but to his disappointment by the time he bent down to untie the bonds he had already made them disappear and was standing up.
"Well done, Harry, but I bet you can still stand to learn a couple of tricks you'll never hear from Flitwick. Something you'll be needing much more than Accio, specially if you keep using that cloak so often." With these words he went to the door, touched the knob with his both hands and in one instant the old dark bronze shone with newly polished gleam.
"A cleaning charm?" Harry guessed.
"Of inestimable value for trophies, toilet sinks and any repulsive articles in need of a good cleaning Filch's perverse imagination is able to come up with," Sirius explained.
Harry grinned knowingly and held out Sirius' wand. Something was sticking from one of the extremes, but he was quite sure he hadn't damaged it. He checked it more carefully. It looked really old and when he touched a couple of hairs of one creature or another they came out. "Where did you get this wand?" He asked, trying to push the hairs back into the wooden casing.
"In a place where illegal deals outnumber the legal ones by ten to one." Sirius answered wryly, taking it from Harry. He seemed to have repaired it often enough to know where the trick was.
"What happened to yours?" Harry got no immediate answer to his question and scowled himself for the lack of tact. He was sure Sirius wasn't particularly fond of that memory.
"Alastor Moody broke it when he took me under arrest." Sirius contemplated his shattered possession while turning it between his fingers. "Guess he didn't want to take any chances. When you get a life sentence your wand is broken anyway. You aren't supposed to use it ever again."
"Can't you get yourself a new one?"
Sirius shook his head. "Not like the one I had. It was really special. Ebony and a hair from the tail of a centaur. They don't normally make wands out of that, mostly because centaurs aren't very keen on having hairs from their tails taken out. How I got it is a long story, the bottom line being that my parents were friends with one of their lot. He gave me my name when I was born, apart from making a lot of unclear predictions regarding my future. In one thing he was right, though. When I was to go to Hogwarts there was no way I could find a proper wand."
"Where's he now?" Harry questioned.
"Centaurs live longer than people, but Heron was already quite old when he gave it to me," Sirius explained.
"Can't you at least get a newer wand?" Harry mused incredulously.
"It doesn't matter that much. I'm not going to get mine back, so this'll do. You know, you should really go now. Your friends are surely looking for you, and when Dumbledore comes you'll have to answer a lot of questions." It was too late for that.
Sirius' words were no sooner spoken than they heard the sound of steps outside. The Halloween feast was over. The door opened to reveal none other than Snape at the head of small procession. He seemed not surprised at all to find Sirius there. Quite on the contrary, one could think he came upstairs only because of him.
"Did you think it was funny, Black?" Snape sneered at him in a manner of greeting. Harry's presence was clearly an unpleasant shock that he did his best to ignore.
"Yeah, I may have thought something like that." Sirius admitted coolly, not caring to hide the grin on his face. It was obvious that the last events didn't help to improve the relationship between the two.
"It was a very brave and very reckless thing to do. Surely I don't need to tell you that?" Dumbledore had entered the room behind Snape and stood at the entrance. There was a hint of admonishing in the way his eyes glinted from behind his glasses. It struck Harry suddenly that it wasn't the Howler they were talking about.
"I was sick of doing nothing. Vigilance is great, but until today it didn't get us anywhere. The chance was too good to ruin it." Sirius sounded a bit defensive but he held the headmaster's stare with stubborn determination.
"Do you realize what will happen if you get caught?" Dumbledore probed.
"At least I will make one of those present very happy," Sirius smirked in Snape's direction. The Potion's master's lips tightened in a humourless imitation of a smile. They might be speaking about something else, but it was definitely the Howler both of them were thinking of.
"I couldn't care less about your fate. If you are stupid enough to dig your own grave it's your business. I won't cry at your funeral." Professor McGonagall's shocked look indicated that his last sentence was way out of place. Sirius received a similar warning from Dumbledore. They both finally looked away from each other.
"Will somebody explain me what happened?" Harry's frustration got the best of him. He didn't understand what all the talk was about, but then again, he wasn't supposed to understand. He wouldn't be surprised if Snape or even Dumbledore ordered him out of there.
"The Order has been watching Malfoy since the very beginning, and after the scandal in parliament, the Ministry too has started to take his schemes seriously. Fudge may still deny it, but the Aurors were watching his every step. He's an arrogant fool like most of his kind, so sure of his power he didn't even bother to hide his intentions… He was right in a way, in absence of any proof the only thing they could do was to watch..."
"And you decided to give them a little push by coming by and saying hallo." Dumbledore finished the sentence for him. "How could they resist the sight of Sirius Black going into the house, apparently ready for a meeting with the host? You should have seen the expression on Malfoy's face. He truly wondered for a moment if I was indeed on his side. Of course, that was before the twenty or so Aurors stormed in his Manor."
"You did what?" Harry couldn't believe his ears. Not that he thought Sirius incapable of doing such a thing. What he found incredible was that he had the nerve to tell Harry off for not being cautious enough right after doing something much crazier himself. "You'll never be able to clear your name behaving that way!"
"I will never be able to clear my name without finding Pettigrew, no matter what I do," Sirius retorted coldly. "There have to be some advantages about being a wanted criminal. No amount of money or influence will free my good friend Lucius and all his guests from the stain they got tonight."
The way Sirius put it everything sounded easy and perfect, and that was exactly what bothered Harry about the whole situation. There seemed to be no justice in the magical world. Lucius Malfoy had enough power to get away with almost anything, but being seen in the company of an innocent man condemned without a trial was enough to destroy his name. Harry didn't believe for a second that Sirius' pleased tone was sincere. He could only imagine how he really felt, knowing that the same people he was trying to help wouldn't hesitate in executing him if he ever fell in their hands.
"I will not deny that your action solved a situation that was beginning to get very problematic," Dumbledore said severely, and everybody could clearly hear the reluctance in that admission. His calm and powerful voice covered all the talking. "But I don't want you to do anything like that ever again. Every one of us puts his life in danger for a greater need, but this kind of personal risk is unacceptable. It's the difference between Voldemort and us. We don't sacrifice any pawns. Nobody is expendable." His clear eyes bore into Sirius' dark ones until the younger man nodded silently.
"Let's go. We have a lot to discuss." The time for fun had passed. Now it was time to talk business. One by one everyone started to move to Dumbledore's office. Sirius' face was sober as he went past Harry.
"Come," He called shortly. "You'll see what's being done here."
It was well past midnight, but Harry wasn't noticing it at all. Once again he found himself sitting in a corner a little apart from everybody else and listening intently to the conversation he wasn't originally supposed to hear. He saw now how wrong he had been. Dumbledore appeared to know and control everything, from the names of Dark artefacts dealers to intricate political games. So much was going on at Hogwarts, and nobody would guess a thing. Harry had been right in the middle of all the activity and until then he could never have guessed what a well-developed and organized net Dumbledore was knitting.
"Azkaban is still our weakest point." Harry heard him saying. "Nobody but the guards and authorized supervisors are allowed inside, and it serves nothing when I ask Fudge to conduct an independent inspector in. For all we know they could be administering the kiss to all the prisoners or letting them free."
"Unless he has a place for a couple of zombies in his plans it will do Voldemort little good to free his supporters from there," Sirius answered. He was fidgeting with his wand, and from time to time sparkles came out of it, burning the hands of its owner.
"The Lestranges too?" Snape's voice suddenly sounded hoarse and his body tensed. He turned to Sirius in anticipation of the answer, seemingly forgetting his previous intention to talk to him in a tone dripping with loathing when he addressed him.
"I don't know." Sirius' words hung in the air. He stared at the fireplace without really seeing it. The shadows of whatever he was really seeing danced in his eyes together with the reflections of the flames.
"After thirteen years of living hell they were still waiting for Voldemort, expecting their prize in return for their loyalty. They used to weep in their dreams, plead to suffer even more if that eased the fate of their master. It that's not crazy I don't know what is." Shaking himself of the memory Sirius finally looked away from the fire and turned to Snape, but was greeted by an expression of such a hatred he immediately looked away. This time, however, it wasn't him who provoked that reaction.
He bit his lip and offered tentatively. "I can keep a look at Azkaban. I have nothing else to do anyway, the Ministry'll take care of Malfoy from now on." A unanimous shaking of Professor McGonagall's and Dumbledore's heads was the answer.
"You of all the people will do nothing of the sort." McGonagall's voice was full of steel notes that sent chills down the spines of every Gryffindor mixed with pure amazement.
"I of all the people am the only one who knows the island well enough. There are some places where one can hide, and the Dementors will pay no attention to an animal. I know I can do it." Grim irony touched his lips.
"Would you listen to me if I told you not to?" Silence was the only answer. Dumbledore shook his head. "You have changed a lot, but not in essentials." He said, getting up from his chair and closing the meeting. "You would still insist on your plan until you get everyone's agreement and an authorization when you really don't need either of the two."
There was no moon that night, but millions of stars shone very brightly in the sky. Harry and a big black dog walked along the Forbidden Forest until they reached the furthest limit of the Hogwarts grounds. Only then did Sirius take his true form. In the night his transformation was invisible, and Harry was startled when a tall figure of his godfather suddenly appeared behind his back.
"Are you really going to go back to Azkaban?" He asked quietly. He didn't want to say good-bye so soon.
Sirius nodded solemly. "Dumbledore knows we need it, or he would have argued much longer. And it's not like I have to get inside. There are plenty of places where you can hide and observe."
"What if you get caught?" Maybe it was because it was so late, but Harry seemed to ask a lot of stupid questions. What answer did he expect to a question like that? An assurance that everything would be okay? It could be enough for somebody with a different past, but Harry had seen enough examples to know that the life was very rarely what one could call fair.
"Can happen," was the short answer, and those two words were enough to reward Harry for the many times he was not taken seriously and all the assurances that he was too small to understand certain things. The cruel reality hugged his heart with icey fingers. Sirius was treating him like an adult, and he wasn't sure he enjoyed it as much as he had expected.
"When I got out of Azkaban I was grateful for every breath of air I took outside those walls," his godfather continued, his words hanging in the stillness of the night. "I wasn't used to the sunlight, but just knowing that I could see the sun if I wanted was the best of feelings. Now it's not enough anymore. I'm getting selfish. I want my life back. I want to do something more than hide, to make sure that nothing ever happens to you again, to avenge James and Lily. Can you understand that, Harry?"
"I do," muttered Harry. He watched his godfather take out his wand and disappear in the night before making himself on the way back to Hogwarts. He hoped with all his strength that what he had said was true.
A/N: sorry it took longer than usual, but my exams are here and there's nothing I can do. I'm getting a couple of weeks off now (sorry about that, too, but at least I warned) If you want to do something else that just waiting for the next chapter (in which Harry will finally get Snape back. Now that'll get him in trouble much more than any Book of Phoenix!) one of the possibilities is to write a review. It will give me the push I need.
Once again thanks my wonderful beta Lin-z for her time and help.
And this HUGE THANKS is for all the people who take their time to review. One line from you really makes my day! Special mention to people who do it regularly (Dumbledore's True Love, Kelzery, herm, Tinabedina, CassidyRai, Rachel, Katia, jona, Rachel G-G, marykmac...). If I forgot any of you I'm an ingrateful thing and you are entitled to 1 (one) flame, but please take pity of me!