part nineteen
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righty oh, lets keep going. i think i lost it somewhere in that last chapter, i didnt like it much and it seemed slightly muddled, well that'll teach me to go totally off track into flashbacks for too long.... wont happen again, SORRY!
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"Easter Holidays, what are you all doing?" Harry asked Ron and Hermione one afternoon.

"Staying here as normal." Ron said, grinning slightly at Hermione.

"Same here." Harry said slightly dismayed. "Sirius promised to take me to my mum and dad's house..."

There was a tension filled pause, which nobody really wanted to intrude in, as Harry had developed a sort of closed expression that meant he was deep in thought about things he'd rather not talk about.

"Any word from Remus?" Hermione asked, trying to brighten the mood.

"Not a word." Harry grinned slightly, "He seemed anxious to get away..."

"Tuh." Hermione rolled her eyes.

"What?" Ron asked, bemused.

"You know why dont you?"

"Er..."

"That lady who Sirius and Edea brought back with them." Hermione said it as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Who? Anna?" Ron asked.

"Oh yes..." Harry nodded, "I asked Sirius about her, he seemed pretty vague."

"At the moment he is permanently 'pretty vague'." Hermione huffed. "Not quite there when you talk to him."

"Well come on.. he had his ego torn to shreds."

"Well, he should have considered his ego before trying to apparate into a place where you phyisically cant." hermione said primly.

Professor McGonagall came round with her list of holiday 'stay-behinds' at that moment, and all three of them signed up.

"I would have thought," McGonagall started, "That you wouldn't be staying this easter."

Harry just shrugged. "Not really my choice, is it."
****



"OI, bottlebrush." Sirius hissed from the side of a small log cabin, "I've found a way in."

Edea rolled her eyes, "What is it with you and stupid names?"

"Ask my parents." Sirius replied. "Not my fault your hair resembles one."

"So you dont think Remus is home?"

"Doesnt look like it, does it."

"He could have charmed the place." Edea said, peering through the window, "Being a wolfie and all."

"Probably, but i want to show you this place anyway."

"Why?"

"Its nice." Sirius said simply, "i have some of my stuff left here anyway, and James'."

"Alright." Edea sat down on a tree stump. "Break in them."

"I am doing so." Sirius threw himself against the door, which slammed open, throwing him across the entrance hall, skidding to a halt near the stone wall.

Edea heard a very feminine shriek and another voice that definitely sounded like Remus. "Wrong again, Paddy."

"R...REMUS!" Sirius picked himself up. "Annnnnnd... anna... how lovely to see.... er... such alot of you... umm... hi?"

"Sirius." Remus said in a deathly quiet voice, "What the hell?"

"It LOOKS like i was planning on doing what you've already decided to do." Sirius grinned, waving at Anna, "Hows things?"

"You have five seconds to get out... and pretend you never came here Padfoot." Remus said, trying not to laugh at the expression on his friend's face. "Five..."

"Alright, alright, i'm gone." Sirius said, bowing before walking backwards out of the door, "By the way, you might want to ix that door, and.... nice shorts."

Siruis rolled out of the doorway as a few hexes flew past his ear. "Damn." He muttered to himself as his arm started growing green moss.

Edea shook her head, and grabbed his other arm, dragging him up to a standing position. "You're getting worse. Really, i mean, they're going to kill you next time they see you."

"Should be fun." Sirius winked at her, "Remus-killings are always fun to watch. He usually does it so cool and calm, then suddenly just explodes at you like a dictionary with a mouth."

"I know." Edea nodded, "I have witnessed them before, many many times."

"Listen," Sirius stopped as they trudged back through the woods, "I've got to disappear for awhile, take Harry to see his family, that sort of thing, okay?"

"Guess he'd want to go sooner or later." Edea looked down, "Do you think this is wise?"

"I do, yes indeed." Sirius flicked a stray lock of hair out of his eyes, "Plus i want to go... talk to James... tell him some stuff."
****


"My Lord... how?" A croaky voiced hunched man knelt before Lord Voldemort.

"Once again, Lucius, my friend i must tell you of my return to form? Surely the word has reached Azkaban?"

"It has, it did reach... but i feared it was a lie... i feared..."

"You feared everything Lucius, because you had nothing. But my dear friends at the minstry seemed to forget that the dementors are natural forces of evil, naturally they respond to me, so instead of breaking Azkaban open, i shall simply filter out those who are of use to me, slowly and one by one."

"My lord... you truly are..."

"Amazing, Lucius?" Voldemort smiled his tight lipped sneer. "Why yes, i do believe i am. Welcome back into the Fold, Mofloy. May you do better this time around."

"of course, of course... anything.. absolutely anything you wish..." Lucius bowed down before standing up, and weakly moving towards the door. He would capture Harry Potter, if not for Voldemort, then for the memory of his son Draco.
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Harry climbed off the back of Sirius's motorbike and stopped at the sight of a small village signpost, - Godric's Hollow -

Sirius magically chained his motorbike to a tree trunk and started to follow Harry a few paces behind. This was his time, and Sirius knew better than to intrude.


'Hello?, Can you hear me? Am i getting through to you? Do you miss me? I hear you say you do, But not the way i'm missing you, What's new? Hows the weather? Is it stormy where you are? You sound so close but it feels like you're so far.'


The fine rain that was falling grew heavier into harsh droplets that splattered on his face and ran down his nose. Harry smiled slightly, "Talk about pathetic fallacy." He mumbled as he followed the small path past the local pub 'Godric's Gift' and the small post office.

Sirius stopped at the pub, and compulsively peered through one of the small windows, like he always had done, years before, trying to see if James was in there, wanting a drink with his old friend. The bar was empty save for a few old residents who perched on their barstools, takling about the weather, and what their wives were cooking for dinner. He had to look away, or he'd risk that tear falling down his face, that pub had been the hub of some very good times, celebrating the birth of Harry, James' birthday, Remus's birthday, Peters brief engagement, it had lasted only four short weeks. If he looked hard enough, he was sure he could have seen Lily and James in that corner booth they always shared, drinking together, sharing their worries over a glass of whatever. James had always found muggle pubs fascinating, and once, on his stag night party, had ordered a glass of every beer the pub had on offer. Needless to say, Sirius had also taken up the challenge, and it had led to some interesting hangover experiments the next morning.

Harry watched the squirrel that climbed over the one remaining block of wall, it looked so lost, so solitary. He found it difficult to imagine a house here, his parents living in this, voldemort coming here, Hagrid finding him... people arriving to pay homage.

"Hey." He whispered to the ruins, "I'm back. Did you miss me? I'm sorry it took so long"


Sirius sat down, running a hand through his soaking wet hair. What was that someone once told him.. Kiss the rain when you wanted to be near someone you had lost. He smiled weakly, closing his eyes, and facing up to the skies, letting the rain sting his face as it fell onto him.

'James, i'm home.' Sirius thought, letting the rain dribble down his neck, 'Sorry i was late, i was unavoidably detained, you know, being in a prison cell an' all. How's Lily? Say hi for me, tell her Harry's okay. He looks just like you, really he does, but he has your eyes, Lils. Tell you what though, you'll never believe what i found out about Snape, the slimy git...'


Harry stopped, and felt an urge to dig in the rubble. The thatched roof had long since been blown away, leaving burnt wooden beams laying across the ground. Harry tied to lift one away, but only managed to roll it across until it hit a taller piece of wall. He wiped his glases, clearing them of the raindrops, and started picking up pieces of stone, digging into the place he once would have called home. It was strange, that the further he dug, the more memories came flooding back, of when he was small, tiny fragments of memories, his parents, visitors, Sirius and Remus, the cellar his father used for working in... wait... they had a cellar... where the hell was the trap door to the cellar? Harry dug faster, with more urgency, throwing bits of rubble aside until he hit what sounded like a hollow piece of wood.

"Sirius, i need some help." He called out in the rain. "I found something."



TBC, yay, i like this last bit, i'll keep it going later-. till next time. boiboi! love ya'll :)

oh i stole some of Billie Myers "Kiss the rain" cuz it was on the radio at the time i was writing this and i thought it was pretty appropriate.