Harry told Hermione and Ron all about his meeting with Lupin just less than a week ago. He told them about his leaving with Mrs. Figg for a special mission.

"Do you think Professor Fletcher left on the same mission they did?" Hermione wondered.

"No, because then he would have left with them, wouldn't he?" Harry pondered some more. They all pondered some more.

"What if..." Ron began hesitantly.

"What if what?" Harry barked, wanting any idea of what was going on. Ron sighed deeply and began again.

"What if Mrs. Figg and Lupin are in trouble...and Professor Fletcher went after them?" He asked quickly. He gave Hermione and Harry a look of worry. No one answered. They all stared at the ground and went into deep thought. Moments later, they arrived in Hogsmeade, a tempting Honeyduke's looming before them. They all dropped their jaws and their mouths watered.

"I think it wouldn't hurt to get a bit of comfort food right now, don't you?" Hermione asked slowly. The boys gave her a look and each suddenly raced into the shop and began gathering their favorite treats.

After they had finished their shopping at Honeyduke's, the starving gang huddled into the Three Broomsticks only to find Fred, George, and Ginny sitting at a booth, all looking quite grave.

"What's wrong?" Ron asked worriedly. George looked up with a rare look of seriousness on his face.

"We got a letter from Mum and Dad, Ron." He began, "They told us not to tell you and Ginny, but we didn't want to keep this from you two." He sighed and clutched the piece of parchment he held in his hands. Fred looked at George and then looked at Ron.

"Mum and Dad are going on some sort trip. It's top secret I guess. They didn't say that it was for the Ministry... they didn't say much in fact." Fred stared at his butterbeer.
"Did they say anything else!?" Harry asked quickly. This was not a good sign. Fred and George looked at Harry in surprise at his urgency.

"Nothing else," Fred said, "All they said besides that they left was that they love all of us and that they were planning on leaving early Thursday morning."
Ginny, who was sitting opposite of Fred and George looked rather worried. "I can't believe they didn't tell us anything else! Why would they leave on such short notice?"

Ron suddenly turned around with a look of astonishment on his face. It suddenly hit Harry. Early Thursday was the same time Professor Fletcher had left! He gasped allowed and heard Hermione gasp not long after.

"Don't worry, Ginny. I'm sure they are all right." George comforted, "I just wish they would have told us where they were going."

"Anyways, why don't you guys sit with us?" George asked Hermione, Harry, and Ron as he and Fred scoot over. Fred called over Madame Rosmerta with three butterbeers as Hermione and Ron scooted in next to George.
Ginny side-glanced Harry, who was still standing. She scoot over slightly, her cheeks glowing. Harry smiled and gladly scooted in next to her. He sipped his butterbeer as a long silence prevailed over the table.
Suddenly, a loud group entered the pub. Harry turned around and saw to his dismay Collin Creevey waving fanatically as he entered, followed by several giggling 4th years. Fred and George wrinkled their brows as the noisy group scooted into the booth happily.

"Hi Harry!" Collin greeted Harry. He puffed out his chest as several of his friends giggled and whispered. Harry instinctively smoothed his bangs down. He looked frantically for an escape route. It was then that he noticed that Ginny was trying to hide behind him. She weakly smiled at him, just as a girl with long brown hair noticed her and scowled.

"I think I'm going to leave now, Collin!" She glared at Ginny and then at Harry and then stormed out of the pub, followed by several other girls who all glared at Ginny and whispered amongst themselves as they left.

"Wow, that was fast!" Collin said, "Oh well! Their loss!" He laughed and gathered some straws that Madame Rosmerta had brought with their butterbeers. Harry stared at the door to the pub, angry at the girls for treating Ginny that way. He then turned to Ginny to ask her what that had been about, but stopped when he saw a tear falling down her cheek. He was about to ask what was wrong, when he felt a kick in his shin.

"Ow!" he shrieked. He looked across from him and saw Ron giving him a look. It said "Do something!" all over it. He stared at Fred, George, Hermione, and Ron, who all had not noticed Ginny's problem. They were all enthralled with Collin and his friends' blowing the paper off of their straws at eachother. Harry decided he would have to ask Ginny what was going on later.

"Wow! Look at the time!" Harry announced, "We really must be off, right Hermione and Ron?"

"Oh right!" Hermione said, still raising an eyebrow at the rowdy boys.

"Right!" Fred said, "Shouldn't we accompany you?"

"Of course!" Harry said, "And Ginny too!" He smiled at her, but she seemed too distracted to have heard. Harry's smile faded as he and his friends scooted out of the booth. Fred went to pay Madame Rosmerta for the drinks as they hurried out of the pub, hoping to go unnoticed.

As soon as they left the Three Broomsticks and Fred caught up, they all breathed a sigh of relief.

"What was that all about?" George asked.

"Oh nothing." Harry weakly smiled.

"Yeah, that was kind of weird." Ron said. Hermoine nodded in agreement while Harry slowed down to search for Ginny, only to find her starting to walk down the street alone. "Ginny where are you going?" Harry yelled to her.

"No where. I just want to be alone." she cried. Before Harry could answer, she rounded a corner and was gone. Harry sighed deeply.

"Gee, I wonder what's eating Ginny." Fred wondered aloud. "Well, we better be off too. We have some girls to meet!" He grinned widely at Hermione, Ron, and Harry and George winked as they took the opposite way that Ginny had taken and rounded another corner.

Harry, Ron and Hermione shuffled down the street towards the Shrieking Shack, each thinking the same thing in the silence. What had caused Professor Fletcher, Mrs. and Mr. Weasley, and maybe more members of the Order of Phoenix to leave on such short notice? Was something going on that was terribly dangerous?

"I am worried about my parents." Ron sighed out loud.

"I am too, we all are." Hermione comforted him as they approached the Shrieking Shack. It was then that Harry realized why their feet had taken them here. He remembered their last visit here had been eventful. They had discovered where the members of the Order of Phoenix were staying. Today the building looked deserted. Foreboding chills rushed throughout Harry's body. Dust had accumulated on a window where a melted candle was. It was the candle that had been burning during their last visit here.

"That's not a good sign," Ron said as they all stared at the dusty building. Harry looked around. It was actually a very nice spring day. He noticed that the country side was bursting with life. Only the dilapitated house seemed to be dead. Then, a figure caught his eye on the dirt road just behind them. There stood a large black dog, staring right at him.

"Sirius?" he cried. They all stared as the dog sneezed and barked at them. Then he walked down the hill. Ron looked at Harry and suddenly smiled. They all ran after Sirius and followed him to the other side of Hogsmeade, trying to look like they weren't following him. He led them to the countryside to a familiar cavern. It was the one he had stayed in last year. They followed him in, Harry wondering why he was staying here again.

Harry heard some feet shuffling and then the strike of a match. A light appeared near the back of the room. The light shone on the smiling clean-shaven face of Sirius Black.

"Sirius!" Harry cried as he ran up to hug him. Ron and Hermione followed him while Harry looked around. The cavern looked a lot better, with a supply of food and some matches and a blanket on the ground. Buckbeak was in a corner sleeping.

"I was so relieved when I saw you lot come up the hill." Sirius said as he held the group in his arms. "I had been waiting by the house all day in hopes you would come."

"Sirius you look wonderful!" Hermione exclaimed. She was right. His face was full and he was clean shaven, the first Harry had ever seen of him without facial hair. His hair was pulled back in a very short ponytail and his rib cage was barely visible. Obviously he had been living a lot better than he had in years. He looked a lot healthier than that night when Harry met him in Dumbledore's office.

"Yes, yes, I have been well fed by your mother, in fact, Ron!" he laughed. "And the Hogwarts house elves." Ron smiled, and got a misty look in his face, as if he was thinking of a home-cooked meal by Mrs. Weasley. "But anyways," Sirius continued, "I really was hoping you would come by the Shrieking Shack today, since I knew the school was visiting Hogwarts today. I needed to talk to you lot."

Harry grew hopeful at this, hoping this meant they would actually get some news about the Order of Phoenix. "What is it? Why is Professor Fletcher gone? And what about Ron's parents?" He burst out without thinking.

Sirius lost his smile immediately and sighed. "They left on a mission. Things aren't going very well, I'm afriad."

Hermione looked concerned, "Is that why you are staying here instead of in the Shrieking Shack?" Sirius nodded solemnly. Hermione turned pale.

Ron gulped. "So is everyone else on this mission too?"

"No, there are various missions. Actually there were about 4 or 5 more who went on that mission, but there's a lot to do. We got some news recently that has left us rather busy." Sirius eyed Harry, and Harry wondered if perhaps this meant it had something to do with Snape. He felt his stomach drop at the thought of what Snape could have told Dumbledore.

"Why don't you tell us more, Sirius? We deserve to know!" Harry asked, "These are after all our friends and Ron's parents!"

"Yes, they are." Hermione begged, "Please tell us Sirius. No one will and we are so worried. We're afraid that Mrs. Figg and Professor Lupin are in trouble!"

Sirius sighed, "I don't know how you knew they aren't around and I don't know how they are either. We haven't heard from them in a couple days." Harry didn't like the sound of that.

"Were Lupin and Mrs. Figg by any chance going to help Professor Snape?" Harry asked quietly. Sirius looked at him.

"You know more than I thought you did." Sirius said.

"But we still don't know where Peter is!" Hermione said.

"And neither do I," Sirius said, "That's the problem. We have heard from sources that You-Know-Who has said some things about Peter, things that could mean he is up to something bad. We have some ideas, so that's where everyone else is, out looking for him."

"I bet Peter isn't too far off," Harry wondered aloud. He looked at everyone. Hermione shrugged, Sirius was looking solemnly at Harry, while Ron thought hard, looking concerned. Harry guessed he was worried about his parents. "Sirius, do you think that Peter is up to something, something that is in Voldemort's plan to attack Hogwarts?".

Sirius looked at him in concern. He patted Harry on the shoulder. "I wish it wasn't a possibility, but I can promise you we are trying our best to prevent anything from happening." Harry sighed. Somehow he wasn't reassured.

"Why can't we help, Sirius? We have brains and this is just as important to us as it is to you." He complained. Hermione and Ron gave him looks but then gave up and sighed. Obviously they felt the same way.

"It isn't my choice, Harry." Sirius said. "But I think perhaps Dumbledore wants to keep you safe, in case, Voldemort has ulterior motives for attacking Hogwarts." Harry realized what this meant. Dumbledore thought maybe Harry was the target of Voldemort's attack. This didn't exactly surprise Harry, but he wasn't all that scared, but more angry. So this was why he couldn't help. Because they thought he was helpless in defending himself? It was unfair. He felt like they were treating him like a child once again.

"I don't understand what the deal is. We've helped every other time." Harry protested. Hermione and Ron remained silent. "Did we prove ourselves helpless children in the past or does everyone just assume so? It isn't fair! It isn't fair at all!"

"Harry, you'll just have to accept the fact that this is more serious than the past was. You've been through enough already," Sirius consoled, with his hand on Harry's shoulder. Harry sighed and nodded silently. He still wasn't convinced but he could see the weariness and saddness in his godfather's eyes and didn't want to upset him anymore.

"Now," Sirius went on looking at all of them, "I better be off on my next mission. I was supposed to leave this morning but--"

"You're leaving?!" Hermione cried, "Don't they have enough people off searching for Peter?"

"My mission is different, and no questions please." He winked at Hermione, who didn't smile back. She looked concerned and Harry didn't blame her. He wondered just as much what his godfather was up to this time and hoped it wasn't dangerous. But Sirius' weary gaze wasn't very reassuring. Harry rushed up and hugged him tight. He was frightened, like a child. Maybe Sirius was right and he wasn't quite grown up enough yet to deal with whatever it was Sirius would have to deal with. "Harry," Sirius said as he looked Harry in the eyes, "I want you to do something for me, I want you to be wary for yourself. Keep an eye out for anything suspicious." He looked at him until Harry nodded, confused. Did Sirius suspect something? Sirius looked at Ron and Hermione, "That goes for you two too." Ron and Hermione nodded and Sirius went and got a small bundle from near Buckbeak and looked at them one more time.

"I have someone feeding Buckbeak, so don't worry about him. You three take care of yourselves." He turned into his dog form and ran out of the cavern without looking back. Harry, Ron and Hermione stepped out and watched as he disappeared down the road, with the sun standing still on the yellow and orange horizon.

"How are we supposed to worry about Buckbeak with him running off on some top secret mission?" Ron chided. He looked slightly pale. Hermione and Harry both shrugged as they turned around to go and line up to return to Hogwarts.

Monday came and Defense Against the Dark Arts class was their first class. After all the students were seated, Nearly Headless Nick emerged from the wall, enthralled with a copy of Gadding with Ghouls by Gilderoy Lockhart. Ron and Hermione snickered. "Honestly, those ghouls are awful things. I regret to say that I'm related to one." Nick said as he closed the book in defiance. The class was staring at him, expectantly. By now, the news of their substitute had spread across the school.

"Right, umm. You may have seen me around the school before and know me as Sir Nicholas de-Mimsy Porpington, or if you are rubbish enough to call me so, Nearly Headless Nick, but in the classroom I'd prefer you to call me Professor Headless." A fit of giggles went across the room. Nick had not taken any notice of it but was leafing through some papers. "Now what was it you left off on with Professor Fletcher?" he asked as the giggles subsided and he continued to leaf through the papers.

Harry noticed Dean and Seamus were whispering about something until Seamus spoke up, "Oh, just about ghouls!" The whole class giggled, even Ron and Hermione. Nick looked delighted and began to tell the entire class about his cousin, who was a ghoul, Mortimer. Harry didn't listen though. He had other things on his mind, like how were Lupin and Mrs. Figg? He hoped they weren't in trouble. And what was it that Sirius had tried to warn him about? It sounded like Sirius was worried about him, that there was trouble looming. Maybe the news Snape had told the Order of Phoenix had something to do with Harry. Was Voldemort still obsessed with killing Harry? Harry couldn't understand what the big deal was, he had his power back he didn't need Harry anymore. But it sounded like that's what Sirius thought. Harry began to wonder if Sirius knew some things that Harry didn't know about why Voldemort hated Harry's family so much. He sighed, it wasn't like it was anything new. It seemed loads of people knew more about his family than he did.

Harry knew that there was something going on that he didn't know about. He decided to be more wary like Sirius had suggested, but he didn't know where to start. If only he had told him more! Harry looked at the class, all laughing as Nick jovially told a story about his cousin. It disgusted Harry that they could laugh when behind their backs their futures were in danger. But he knew that they didn't know, they didn't know why there was a substitute and didn't seem too concerned either. He sighed and played with his quill.

When class was over, Harry was still worrying about Sirius, Lupin and Mrs. Figg. He looked around and realized that he had lost Hermione and Ron in the hub-bub of students. It didn't bother him, though. He wanted to be alone. It was lunch time and somehow he didn't feel all that hungry. He trudged past the lunch room and peered in. Hermione and Ron were at a corner of the Gryffindor table by themselves. It appeared they were talking about something seriously. Harry smiled despite himself, wondering what it was they were saying. He was about to trudge away when he noticed some 4th year girls giggling and laughing near by. They surrounded Ginny who finally turned around to face Harry; she looked upset. She walked right past Harry, as if she hadn't seen him. Harry knew she had, though. Was there a chance she could forgive him for lying about his feelings for her?

"Ginny! Wait!" Harry called. She turned around and looked at him. He rushed up to her and put his hands in his pockets. "Is something wrong? You've been acting so sad lately." It was a perfect time to ask her. A sudden urge came over him to just reach for her and kiss her silky cheek to make her feel better, but this only made him blush more.

"Oh nothing, Harry, I'll be fine." Ginny said curtly, glancing into his eyes, but immediately looking down and impatiently shuffling her feet.

"No! If you're crying there has to be something wrong!" Harry cried, "Why won't you tell me?" He said, putting a hand on her shoulder. It was as far as he could go, he had to control this tremendous feeling, an urge to caress her, one he had never felt so strongly before. He looked into the Red Haired Dream Girl's mahogany eyes and drank in this feeling, so strong a feeling. Was there a word for it? If so, he didn't know it.

Harry looked at her, she looked annoyed. He knew that she was still upset about that day he had lied about his feelings. Of course, it hadn't been the first time he had blew her off. He guessed that her friends were teasing her and it had something to do with him. If only she knew he was lying, but the thought of telling her was mortifying. He didn't know where to start. Instead he just started an apology, "Ginny, I'm really sorry about--"

Suddenly, Ginny jerked away."Harry! Please stop it. Please! I get the picture." She sobbed. Harry wondered what she was talking about. It was as if he had missed something she saw very clearly, "Besides," she hesistated, her lip trembling, "I can't bare another heartbreak." she whispered this with so much emotion it broke Harry's heart. She breathed in as if she was going to say something, but only gazed in Harry's green eyes and broke from his grip and ran up the steps. Harry watched her run up the steps. He knew deep down what was bothering her. Ginny had had this feeling, this burning feeling Harry couldn't name, for him all these four long years. For Harry to treat her like she had a chance and then lie about his feelings more than once, it must have broken her heart. He hung his head in despair. How could he have been so cruel to her? He trudged towards the door leading outside broken hearted.