A/N: Oaky, here's the second part of "What Comes After". You can definitely read this without reading the first part, but you might want to read that all the same. So here it is, tell me what you think!

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters is this fic, or anything of the HP series. For the whole fic. All of it.



"Marco."

"Polo."

"Marco."

"Shuddup!"

"Polo."

"Would you guys can it?!"

"We should say something different. Like 'Fred'," George suggested.

"And 'George'!" Fred shot right back

"Or nothing!" Harry yelled.

"Fred."

"George."

"Agh!" Harry ran up the steps.

"What's up with him?" Fred asked.

"Trouble with potions work. Snape's coming down harder than usual on the gryphs, and the stuff is just way too complicated," George replied.

"And he's constantly thinking about the ever-so-lovely Cho," Ron piped up.

"Well, besides that. He's always thinking about her, that's a given," George elaborated.

"Who's lovely?" Hermione came down from her dormitory.

"You, who else?" Ron smiled.

"And the ever so sexy Neville," Fred said loudly.

"Yes, that boy's got the looks we haven't," George said glumly.

"Er, what?" Neville implored from his side of the room.

"Nothing, nothing, we're just at a hexy level in charms," Fred answered.

"We're going to the library. Fred," George called.

"George," the answer came. They continued all the way down the hallway.

Meanwhile, Harry was staring at a picture of Cho Chang from the quidditch ball at the beginning of the year. Of course, it was a magical picture, and Cho was waving and smiling. Harry missed Cho. He hadn't seen her for two weeks now, he had been so busy with things, and he hadn't seen her in the hallways or at meals. He was pretty sure it had something to do with Dumbledore making the prefects work extra hard, with all the suspicions that Voldemort was preparing to strike.

There was a tapping on the dormitory window, and Harry put the picture away. He went over to the window, and saw that Hedwig was there, with a letter. He opened the window, got the letter, and quickly opened it.

Hello Harry,

That dream sounds very interesting; did you see any sign of that scum Wormtail in it? I'm not sure exactly what a Garo is, or the Elcrys. I know they are both connected by an old legend, and it has something to do with the end of the world (doesn't everything?). I'll try and get to someplace that will have more information, but until then, BE CAREFUL. That monster you mentioned is something I have had trouble with, Voldemort uses them, but that doesn't necessarily mean that this one in particular was his servant. I think the girl you mentioned sounds nice, why not ask her to a nice place for dinner or something? Oh, I suppose you can't, what with that nonce Voldemort running around.

Stay Healthy,

Sirius



So Sirius was going to help him in whatever way. That was good. At least some of his life was in order. He let Hedwig out. Back to studying…

If boomslang skin is mixed with elfpurn leaves, it yields… …

That was enough. Harry got up and went back down to the common room.

"…no, you look beautiful!"

"No, you look beautiful!"

"No, YOU look beautiful," Ron and Hermione complimented each other, each one nudging the other whenever they talked.

"Would you two just get a room?! Or at least follow me, please!"

"Okay Harry," they replied in unison.

"Where are we going?" Ron asked.

"Out." Harry's friends asked no more questions. They got on either side of him. That was strange, Harry thought, that they would be separated by such a great distance during their waking hours. He had no idea where they were going, but he finally found himself outside of Hagrid's hut. He knocked on the door. Booming footsteps resounded inside, and when he door opened, Hagrid's face changed to one of pleasant surprise.

"Harry, I thought I'd never see yeh again, it's been a while since ye've visited!"

"I know. I'm sorry, it's just that I've been really busy lately, but I decided I could at least make time to visit an old friend," Harry said.

"Thank-yeh, Harry. Why don't yeh come in?" Hagrid invited in the three friends. They walked in, and sat around the table in the back. Fang was happy to see people that he knew, and made sure they all smelled okay.

"So what've yeh been up to, Harry?" Hagrid asked. Harry told him what had been going on, as the giant went about making some tea. As Harry talked about the encounter with the strange creature, Hagrid became more engaged in the conversation. It was something he knew about.

"That'd be a Holkomun, Harry. Nasty creatures, they are. They use dark arts, an' You-know-who's been known ter use 'em from time ter time," Hagrid informed Harry. Making a mental note of what the creature was called, Harry moved on with his narrative. As he neared the end, Hermione interrupted

"Harry, we have to do those inspections with the fourth year dormitories today. We gotta go."

"Oh. Yeah. That's right. Hmm, I'm sorry Hagrid, but I gotta go now. It was nice talking to you again."

"Dun' mention it, Harry. It was nice ter see yeh again."

Harry said good-bye, then went with his two friends back to the dormitory. As he had been telling Hagrid about what he had been up to lately, he realized how much he'd actually been doing. He was surprised that he hadn't collapsed into a nervous wreck yet. He thought that that might have something to with the fact that he didn't have as much to think or worry about when it came to family, since he really had none that cared. He missed his mom and dad. It wasn't like he had really known them, but he wished so much that they took care of him, instead of the ill-tempered Dursleys. If he thought about it, Sirius Black was his 'father', Ron was his 'brother', Hermione was his 'sister', and Dumbledore fell into the 'grandfather' category. He had no mother. Great. Cho fit in somewhere, he knew, but he wasn't sure at all where that was…

"Harry, let's get to work. Just come back here when you're done," Hermione told Harry. He had made his way through the common room. He looked around, then went up to the fourth year dormitory. It was mostly clean, and there were no holes in the wall. That was good. He checked to make sure all the windows were in ship shape, then turned around and saw Colin Creevey's photo collection floating next to the wall. They were all black and white. He could have pinned them in and got the same look, but that wouldn't have been any fun. Harry looked closer, expecting to see many pictures of himself. What he saw completely surprised him. There were hardly any pictures of him at all, or anyone else. They were almost all of one person…