A/N: If you want to be emailed updates, please leave your email address in a review or write to me at mione2003@hotmail.com.
Chapter Nine
"Well, Mr. Potter....where is my Christmas present? Have you completely forgotten?"
"Oh!" Harry jumped up from his sitting place and dropped his newspaper in surprise. "Ginny! I didn't expect you today! I thought your family wanted you for a while."
"So you're not happy to see me?" she pouted.
"Of course I'm happy to see you. I'm always happy to see you," he said as he wrapped his arms around her. He pulled her face up to his and kissed her. Ginny pulled him over to where he had just been sitting on the couch, pushed him down and sat on his lap. They sat wrapped in the others arms for a while before Ginny spoke again.
"So, what about it? Where's my present, did you forget to buy it?"
"No, I didn't forget to get it, I just forgot to give it to you! Is that any better? I was just so excited about you waking up, I forgot all about it."
"Go get it, then. Maybe I'll give you yours afterwards. Depends on how good it is." Ginny grinned suggestively at him. Harry jumped up from the couch with her in his arms and then placed her back on the couch.
"Well, what are you holding me up for, woman? I want that present!" he exclaimed and ran up to his room.
It was a week later on New Year's Day. Ginny had just been released from the hospital two days earlier and she had just come over for a surprise visit, so that they could celebrate a late Christmas together.
Ginny sighed contentedly as she watched his retreating back.
"Men," she muttered under her breath before smiling to herself for finding such a great one. Harry came running back in the room with a small wrapped box in his hand.
"I do love you, you know that, Harry?" He stopped in his tracks and looked at her funny before smiling beatifically at her.
"I do know that. You know that I love you, Ginny?"
"Yes....OK, now hand it over." Harry rolled his eyes and handed the gift over. Ginny delicately unwrapped the dark blue wrapping paper.
"You need to learn how to open presents; you have to just rip them open! Where's the fun in what you're doing?" Harry laughed.
"I'm just making the moment go slower. I hope you don't just rip my present open of it's wrappings! It's fragile." She finished taking the paper off and opened the box and gasped at the contents.
"Harry! It's so beautiful!" she exclaimed as she slipped the ring onto her right ring finger. Harry shrugged.
"I figured you would like it."
"I love it," she breathed while looking at the ring. She came out of her trance and looked up at Harry. "Thank you."
"Your welcome. I would have gotten you something else to go along with it but I wasn't in the mood to shop that day."
"It's OK, Harry. It's enough....now, it's time for your present." Again the suggestive smile crossed her face. "I actually have a confession to make. I haven't had time to buy you a present, so this was all that was available. Remember, I'm still fragile." Harry grinned back at her.
"I promise to handle the contents with care," he whispered into her ear as he led her upstairs.
~*~*~
Another week past and soon it was the morning before the picnic. The Weasleys, Harry, Sirius, Remus, Draco Malfoy, Dean, Seamus, Steve, and of course Brian and Greg (they were coming along for Harry's protection) were all Flooing to Steve's house in LA. They were going a day early so as to get used to the time change a little so that it wouldn't make a difference when the actual picnic was held. The picnic would be held the next day at the big park that Harry showed off his flying skills to the Cannons. The day would start off at lunch and they would leave whenever they felt like it. Everybody was bringing brooms and Quidditch balls so they could get a game together. Weather wouldn't be a problem since the whole park was enchanted to be summer all year round. Not that it would really matter all that much since they would be in California.
Harry was just getting some food to bring along when Sirius came walking into his kitchen.
"Good evening, Harry, dear!" Sirius said cheerfully. Harry shook his head.
"Good evening. You want to give me a hand with this stuff?" he asked grumpily.
"Somebody got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning."
"This food was just a lot of hassle. And I still have to cook it before we eat it for lunch at the picnic."
"Why didn't you make something a little easier then?"
"Molly told me to make it for her. She's making the majority of the food. I offered to do some, I felt sorry for her."
"And you're trying to get on the good side of the future in-laws," Sirius smiled.
"I'm already on the good side of the in-laws. Hopefully, I still will be once I tell them the truth about me."
"Don't worry. This is the Weasley's we're talking about here. They love you," Sirius assured him as he picked up a bowl of taco salad. (A/N: Please excuse my American ignorance. I don't know if the British eat taco salad. I know that they have some different food than Americans, so let's just pretend everybody eats all the same kind of food. I only used taco salad because I'm really craving it right now! :) Sometimes, I wish school taught me more about the culture instead of the history)
"Do you have all of your things packed and ready to go?"
"Yes, father."
"Only checking. No need to get sarcastic."
"I was just joking. Yes, I do have it ready." He ran up to his room and grabbed his bag and slung it over his back. Once he got back downstairs, he grabbed a couple bowls and plates of food and called to Sirius, Greg and Brian.
"Come on guys, let's Apparate over to the Weasley's. I want to see if they need any help before we Floo to Steve's." The four walked out of the house and past the anti-Apparition barrier and reappeared in front of the Weasley's house. It was complete chaos inside. The entire Weasley family, including all the in-laws and grandchildren were hurrying about. With the exception of Harry Jr. who was still only three months old.
"Molly, do you need any help?" yelled Harry over all the commotion.
"Oh, James...I don't think so. I've got so many hands here already. I was just about ready to Floo over to Steve's."
"OK, well, I'll head there now so I can get out of everybody's way." He pushed his way through everybody to get to the fireplace. A couple minutes later, he toppled out of Steve's large living room fireplace.
"Why hello, James! I was wondering when you'd start arriving!" exclaimed Steve from the couch. "I did get the name right this time, right?" he asked cautiously. Harry laughed.
"Yes, you did. And let's keep it at James until I tell everybody, OK?"
"Can do!" he exclaimed.
"What time is it here?"
"Eleven AM," Steve replied promptly.
"Oh man, it's going to be a long day. I might be in for a nap soon. It was just seven in the evening." At that moment, Harry was tackled to the floor.
"What the..."
"You idiot! How long have you been a wizard again?" exclaimed the person who was on top of him.
"Too long, I expect for this situation. What'd I do wrong?" He rolled out from under the person's heavy weight and saw Sirius scowling at him.
"When you get through the fireplace, you're supposed to MOVE out of the way! Not just stand there and hope to be knocked over by the next person who comes through."
"Oh," said Harry sheepishly. "I knew that."
"Could have fooled me," he replied angrily and then grunted in pain as another person fell on top of them.
"We're going to be killed if we stay here too long," said Harry smiling down at the new arrival.
"Do you have a death wish, Potter?" asked Draco Malfoy testily.
"Temper, temper, Draco. I suggest we get out of the way before we add to this dog pile. Oh sorry, Sirius, didn't mean anything by it." Harry got up and pulled them both to safety just as Remus came through.
"And Malfoy, it's Newark to you. Don't forget it!"
"Oh, yeah. I forgot the Weasley's don't know." He started looking around the room they were in.
"How ever are you going to survive a night in a Muggle home, Draco? I never thought I'd see the day when I'd see you in one."
"Shut up. I've stayed in a Muggle home before." Harry goggled at him.
"Yeah, OK and my name is Marilyn Monroe."
"Is that the new name you're going by now?" Draco asked smirking. Harry scowled.
"No, of course not, you prat."
"Well, how am I supposed to know? I mean, you've got so many names, it's hard to keep track," he replied innocently.
"Shut up. Quit being such a moron. Who's house did you stay in then that was a Muggle?"
"I....uh, well, I had a girlfriend who was a Muggle." Now it was Sirius, Remus and Ron, who had just come through the fireplace to stare open mouthed at him along with Harry.
"Muggle girlfriend? Malfoy, when are you going to stop surprising us?" Harry asked incredulously. "How long did that last?" Draco started shifting uncomfortably.
"For a while. I met her the summer before fifth year, and we didn't start dating until the next summer."
"Did she know that you're a wizard?"
"Yes, her uncle was a friend of my mother's and he was a wizard."
"Well, how long did you date her?" asked Ron, who had just managed to close his mouth.
"Er...um.....until my father found out, a couple days after Voldemort was killed."
"You stopped dating her just because he found out?" asked Sirius surprised.
"I didn't really have a choice," he said angrily. "Look, I really don't want to talk about it right now," he said uncomfortably as he looked at the mass of people who were starting to congregate in the large room and were listening in. Everybody backed off and went about their business but Harry resolved to speak to him about it. He seemed upset about it still. He wondered what Lucius could have done to make him have no choice. It wasn't like Draco had ever listened to his father before that.
After everybody was settled into their rooms, Steve went about making everybody lunch. They were seated around the large dining room table eating away. By the time Harry had had his fill, he noticed Draco move out of the room, unnoticed by anybody besides Harry. Draco had been extremely quiet since he spoke of his Muggle girlfriend. Harry quickly excused himself and hurried after him. He found Draco in the room with the fireplace, reading a Muggle newspaper.
"Draco," he said quietly.
"James," Draco said even more quietly.
"What happened?" Draco looked up at him questioningly.
"Well, I was full, so I got up and left."
"That's not what I meant and you know it....what did your father do?"
"I'd rather not talk about it, Newark," he replied almost condescendingly.
"Have you ever spoken about it? I don't mean to sound like your psychiatrist or anything but...you know it does help."
"Oh and you would know so well. Mr. I Don't Want To Come Back As Myself Because I Don't Want To Talk About It."
"That doesn't mean that I haven't spoken about it at all with anybody."
"You haven't told anybody jack shit. I know, I've asked around. Yeah, you did tell them that you killed Voldemort but nobody actually knows anything about what happened. All anybody knows are the rumours." Harry sighed in exasperation.
"I didn't come in here to talk about me, Draco."
"Well, it comes back to you because I'm trying to show you what a scared little hypocrite you are."
"I may be a hypocrite, but I'm not scared to talk about it. I just choose not to for now. My story would most definitely be hard on people. I choose not to burden people with it for now. Especially those I care about. They would worry even more than they already do."
"Always the noble Gryffindor, aren't you?"
"Always the stinking Slytherin, aren't you?" Draco cracked the smallest of smiles.
"I guess so. You know..." he said thoughtfully. "I really started to resent being in Slytherin during sixth year. I actually considered trying to be re-sorted. But my father....well, you can just imagine that I probably wouldn't be here right now if I had tried that one."
"And what about your Muggle girlfriend? Would she be here right now if your father wouldn't have found out about the two of you?" Draco looked down at his hands for a while before answering.
"I'd like to think so."
"What happened?"
"Can't you guess?"
"I have an idea but I would like to hear the truth about it before I assume anything." Draco took what was probably supposed to be a calming breath but it came out choked and jagged.
"Rebecca and I decided to never tell him about us. I knew it would be too dangerous, I knew what Lucius thought about Muggles. He always tried putting the same ideas into my head since I was a child. I believed him for the longest time. But then, mother introduced me to her Rebecca's uncle Rick, who is a Muggle-born. Of course, mother never told Lucius that. He would have been furious with her for befriending a Muggle-born. Rick introduced me to Rebecca during my birthday party after fourth year. She was only there because Lucius was on some business for Voldemort.
"She was so beautiful. I think that was my turning moment. I didn't care that she was a Muggle or not, I just knew that I wanted her and if it meant defying my father, than so be it. I had already been considering it anyway, I had had a conversation with Dumbledore before I left school that year about my safety. I hadn't been sure if I wanted to be a Death Eater. He told me that if I needed to get away from home, that I was welcome to go to Hogwarts for the summer. But by the time my birthday rolled around, I was actually considering becoming a Death Eater. My father promised me an initiation a week after my party. But I changed my mind when I met her.
"Needless to say, Lucius was furious that I changed my mind. I spent two weeks in the torture chamber for that. He said it was for the pain that he was going to have to endure for my stupidity. When I got out, Rebecca helped my mother nurse me back to health. She even learned how to make healing potions for me, which is no easy task for a Muggle." He smiled indulgently. "She was always good at cooking things though so I guess that potions was almost the same. When I got better, I acted like such a stupid prat around her. I couldn't string together one sentence. I was stuttering all the time, it really wears on one's nerves...."
"I can't believe it, you lost your cool? You, stuttering?" Harry teased. "I would have loved to see that back then."
"Shut up, you would have to, if you would have seen her. Knowing how you always were around Cho and then Ginny."
"How'd you know I liked either one of them?"
"It was only obvious," he said disdainfully. "Every time I caught sight of you at the Yule Ball in fourth year, you were staring daggers at Diggory and making puppy eyes at Cho. You did the same with Ginny the next year and the year after that. Although you were also busy with Parvati Patil."
"You sure did watch me a lot."
"Oh please, don't flatter yourself. Anybody with eyes could have seen it. So, what did happen between you and Patil?" Draco grinned suggestively.
"I think we're getting off the subject here."
"Yeah, OK. Getting nervous, are we?" he shook his head and laughed. "I don't blame you. She wasn't bad on the eyes, I wouldn't say no to her sister either."
"Well, that makes sense since they are IDENTICAL. So...go on with your story."
"Right. I wasn't really able to get my tongue back around Rebecca until the next summer. I finally asked her out...we had to go out in the Muggle world since it would be dangerous in the wizarding world. We ended up spending quite a bit of time there and she showed me all these Muggle things like televisions and computers. Muggles are more intelligent than wizards give them credit for. They have a lot of ways to get by without magic. By the time I got out of Hogwarts, I was a regular expert on Muggles. I couldn't say anything about it to Slytherins in case it got around to my father. It infuriated me how ignorant wizards can be about them. So it was hard to keep up my Muggle hating facade when they would make fun of Muggle-borns and Muggles. I really started to hate calling Hermione a Mudblood but it was part of the act. You know that I wanted to be your friend, but I couldn't be and plus you wouldn't have wanted to be.
"You have no idea how happy I was when you killed Voldemort. I had information on Lucius that I was going to give to the Ministry and he would be locked up and Rebecca and I would be safe. I had already proposed to her and we were going to get married in June of the next year if everything went as planned. Two days after Voldemort's downfall and your disappearance, I planned on going to the Ministry with my information. I was stopped by Lucius. He was furious with me. At first I didn't know why, but then he started ranting and raving about Muggles and how could I be so irresponsible as to date a Muggle. 'You'll ruin the good name of Malfoy and dirty up the blood if you marry that little whore!' He started asking where she lived so that he could go and deal with her himself. Of course I didn't tell him. I wasn't stupid.
"I didn't like to think so though. If I would have been a bit smarter though, I wouldn't have gone to see her for a while. But I decided to wait to go to the Ministry that day after speaking Lucius. Instead, I waited until I thought Lucius had gone into hiding since the Ministry was looking for him, and I Apparated to Rebecca's flat. I really didn't know...he had put a tracking charm on me when I had my back turned. He followed me to her place; when he showed up, I told her to leave. We had had the fireplace connected to the Floo network just in case something happened. Severus offered to be her safe house if anything happened. Lucius had been thinking ahead though and destroyed the vase on the mantle that had the Floo powder in it. He did it just before he walked into the kitchen. We heard it break in the street but didn't think anything of it.
"We had a really big row when he came into the kitchen. I tried to disarm him, curse him, putting the full body bind on him. I was never any good at duelling with him. He disarmed me first and then...." a small sob escaped his throat. Harry didn't know quite what to say or do. He never thought that he would be in this position with Draco Malfoy of all people. Harry decided to just wait in case he broke down completely. He looked ready to.
"He put the Cruciatus on me with my own wand. Then he did the same with his wand to Rebecca. I couldn't even help her. I tried to overcome the pain but it was too much. There was too much anger put into the curse. I'm not sure how long he had the curse on us. But he finally took it off...I couldn't move, I felt completely paralysed. I tried to reach out for Rebecca, she was still convulsing from the pain, and she was crying. Lucius started to speak to me again. I knew what he was going to do before he even said it. 'You know this is for your own good, Draco. I can't have you dirtying the bloodline like this. You'd be a disgrace, I'd have to disown you and that has never happened in the Malfoy family. I don't want to be the first, it would start a horrible trend.'
"I begged with him, though I knew it wouldn't do any good. He had his mind made up, he didn't care how I felt about it all....he told me to take one last look at her while she was alive. I tried to move closer to her so I could shield her but it was all so slow. It hurt so bad. She was so calm and brave. I....I had started to cry knowing that I would lose her. I was so scared to live without her, I was scared for her. She actually found it in her to smile at me. She told me not to be scared because she wasn't and that she loved me. I only just managed to say it back right before he killed her......I hope she heard it." A single tear ran down his face and Harry found himself ready to shed a couple tears for Draco Malfoy. He put a comforting hand on his shoulder.
"I'm sure she did, Draco."
"Please," he said in a voice choked with tears and frustration. "I...I don't need your pity."
"You really don't have many good friends, do you, Draco? I'm not here to give you my pity. I'm here to be your friend, that's all. This is what friends do. They help each other out." Draco was silent for a long time before he spoke in a voice barely above a whisper.
"Thank you, Harry."
~*~*~
The next day was really hectic in Steve's mansion. There were twenty-two people running about, getting things together and cooking the things that needed to be cooked still. By eleven in the morning, everybody was lining up in front of the fireplace, waiting their turn to Floo to the Muggle gym. Harry was the first one through since he knew what to do. Once through the fireplace, he waited for a couple more people before going through the solid brick wall.
The park was lit by bright sunlight and shone on Harry's face. He turned his head upwards and took it all in. The warmth felt really good when he compared it to the cold weather back home in England.
"Come on, James. Plenty of time for that in a little bit. We need to get this food set up so we can eat lunch," said Molly with a cheerful smile.
"I know. I just really miss this nice weather. It's always raining in England, I miss the sun."
"Ah, yes, I forgot you lived here. It must have been nice."
"It was, I still miss it a little, but nothing compares to home. I don't think anything can compare to the place you were born."
"You weren't born in the U.S.?"
"Oh....no, actually I wasn't. I was born in Wales." Molly was thankfully interrupted by Arthur coming up behind her and speaking to her. He wanted to avoid all awkward situations until it was the time to say something. Arthur, Molly and Harry chose a spot about twenty yards away from a large cluster of trees. They levitated five picnic tables into the area and set the food up on one, the rest would be used for them to sit and eat. By the time they were done with that task, everybody was already in the park and congregating in the area and talking and laughing merrily with one another. After ten minutes, Molly called everybody over to line up for the food. Harry went to the end behind Draco and Sirius behind Harry.
"How about a game of Quidditch after we eat, everybody?" yelled Ron from the front of the line. There was a chorus of agreement.
"I'm on James and Draco's team, no matter what!" yelled Ron after the commotion died down.
"Yeah, take the two professionals. That's really fair," grumbled Bill.
"I think Draco and I should probably just be on opposite teams. Besides Ron, what's wrong with having Charlie as your Seeker? He's probably better than I am," Harry said honestly. Charlie burst out laughing.
"That's nice of you to say, James. But I really think that you have got more talent than I do. And how do you even know that I'm a Seeker?"
"Oh...Ron told me a while ago. Besides, it's the truth. I have never seen you play, but I've heard stories about you. You could have played professional Quidditch if you had wanted to." Everybody chorused their agreement to that; Charlie's ears turned red. Harry looked up and saw Ginny across from him, (they were in two lines on both sides of the picnic table.) she was smiling at him appreciatively. He smiled and winked at her, and she wiggled her eyebrow at him before moving to sit down at a table with her food and butterbeer. Harry and Sirius were the only two left getting their food. Sirius put a hand on his shoulder and leaned in closer to him.
"I don't think that I could be any prouder of you if I tried." Harry looked at him surprised.
"Why, I didn't do anything?" Sirius smiled and shook his head.
"You're too modest, just like your father. It's what you do everyday, Harry. You're just a great person; I couldn't have asked for a better godson."
"Yeah, you could have. If I were any good, I wouldn't have just left you to wonder where I was for five years. I know I told Albus, but I should have told you, but I was a damn coward. I'll never forgive myself for that; I never knew my father and you're the only father figure I've ever known, I should have told you...hell, as far as I'm concerned, Sirius....you are my father." Sirius let out a breath and Harry could see unshed tears in his eyes. Sirius set his plate down and then Harry's and embraced him in a tight hug.
"Harry, don't beat yourself up for it. I don't care anymore what happened. You're here now, and that's all that matters. Besides, I completely understand why you left and why you didn't tell me to my face....if anybody should be sorry, it's me."
"Why? What did you do?"
"I persuaded you to come back and I know you blame yourself for all that has happened."
"It would have happened anyway, they would have found me, just like you did. You did nothing wrong. All you did was look for me and I am very grateful that you found me. You have no idea how glad I am to be back among all my friends and family again, Sirius. When I saw you in that bar...well, I'm not going to lie, I did panic but a part of me was so damned relieved. I could stop hiding from at least one person and if I could have chosen anybody at the time not to hide from, it would have been you."
"You sure didn't act at all happy to see me," Sirius said with a smile.
"I was, you have no idea. All that time I was hiding, I kept thinking that nobody really wanted to find me. As time went on, it just felt like nobody cared so I just convinced myself to stay away, that and the fact that I didn't want to talk about anything made it all very easy to stay here in LA. That's one reason I was relieved to see you. You cared enough to keep looking for me even after all that time."
"Of course I kept looking for you! I can't believe you even thought otherwise. I have no idea what would have made you think that. You and Remus are the two most important people in my life. I wouldn't give up just like that...."
"Um...sorry to interrupt you guys, but everybody is wondering why you two were hugging and so I think you should get your food and come and sit down," said Draco who was muttering out of the corner of his mouth while re-piling his plate with food.
"Right, I forgot how hungry I am," smiled Sirius. They continued with piling their plates and finally sat down to devour it all. Thirty minutes later, everybody was getting up to get the teams together.
"OK, who are the captains going to be?" asked Fred.
"I vote that James and Draco are!" exclaimed Angelina. Both of them stepped back.
"No, I don't think so," they replied at the same time.
"You two are the captains. Makes sense, you're professionals," said George.
"I don't want to pick the people," complained Draco. Harry sighed resigned to being the Captain of his team.
"Well...let's just draw names. Everybody who is playing, write your name and position on a piece of parchment and put it in...put it in this empty chip bowl. Draco will draw first for his team." There was a mad rush for parchment and when nobody could find any, they had to resort to transfiguring leaves from the trees to parchment. Luckily, Steve had a normal Muggle pen with him.
When all the names were in the bowl, Draco started drawing.
"Charlie, you're my Seeker....Angelina, you're a Chaser....Fred, Beater....Hermione, you're my last Chaser...Ron, you're the Keeper. And you'd better still be as good as you were at Hogwarts."
"I'm better," joked Ron.
"Egotistical bastard," Draco muttered under his breath with a smile while he pulled his last name out of the bowl. "Katie, no that won't do. I have all my Chasers already." He rummaged around the bowl for a bit more and came up with Dean's name for his second Beater.
"OK, my team then is Seamus as Keeper, Bill, Katie, Ginny, you're the Chasers, George, you're a Beater. Um...I need another Beater. We're short one." Harry scanned the rest of the people watching and his eyes landed on Sirius. He grinned devilishly at him.
"Oh no, James. I am not playing with you."
"Yeah, you are. I've heard you were a great Beater in school."
"I haven't played in years, I'd be terrible."
"Sirius, I never play Quidditch and I'm terrible at flying," Hermione pointed out. "You'll be better than me by a long shot. I'm sure you'll do wonderful."
"Go on, Padfoot. We were just flying a couple weeks ago and you seemed to be in tip top shape then. And...you really were a great Beater in school." Sirius scowled.
"Shut up, Moony. I only played because James made me."
"And you loved Quidditch."
"Yes, I did and I do..."
"So, what's the problem?" yelled Harry.
"I haven't played in a long time. In fact....the last time I played, it was with James, right before him and Lily were put under the Fidelius charm." Harry walked to him and stood in front of him.
"Would it bother you too much to play then? Because I'm sure Remus will always play..." he grinned at Remus, who backed away quickly.
"No way," he stated firmly. "I have never been any good at Quidditch."
"Well, then...I'll just ask somebody else..."
"No...don't bother. I'll play with you." Harry smiled broadly at Sirius.
"I knew you'd come around." Harry studied his face for a moment. "Are you OK?"
"What? Oh...yeah. I'm fine, I was just thinking."
"All right, well everybody, let's play some Quidditch!" yelled Harry.
The game turned out to be pretty evenly matched in skill. The only people who didn't really know what they were doing was Hermione and Dean. They were the only people who hadn't played for the house team at Hogwarts. Harry was happy with the fact that he had gotten Sirius on his team because he was pretty brutal with the bludgers. They had them charmed so that they didn't hurt when they hit the person, but they would knock you around a bit. The game went on for a little over an hour and the score was 130-100, Draco's team in the lead, which had been called the Snakes and Harry's the Gryffin's.
Charlie had actually seen the Snitch first because Harry had been staring at Ginny. He had been admiring the way she so gracefully moved through the air on her broom. It was a problem that he would never quite overcome, it had been quite a big problem during Hogwarts when she became a Chaser in Harry's sixth year. He had given a game up to Ravenclaw because of it. When Charlie rushed past him, he came back to his senses and raced after him. Harry managed to side-track him and let the Snitch get away. Charlie scowled at him while Harry smiled triumphantly.
Five minutes later, Harry caught sight of the Snitch again and raced after it with Charlie on his tail. Harry, of course had the better broom since his was given to him from the Cannons. Within seconds, Harry had come off with another spectacular catch and zoomed around the field to his team.
"I knew I didn't have a chance against you, James," laughed Charlie when they had gotten to the ground.
"You almost got to it the first time you saw it. If I wouldn't have stopped you, you would have gotten it. I wouldn't have had a chance otherwise."
"Well, that's because you were staring at Ginny," Charlie laughed while Harry turned a light shade of red.
"Yes, I have a problem doing that while playing Quidditch," muttered Harry. Ron heard him and dropped his mouth.
"That's what that was in sixth year then, when we lost to Ravenclaw. You said that someone had been distracting you and that it was a player, not a person in the stands. I had thought that it was Cho."
"No, it was Ginny," Harry smiled. Hermione laughed at Harry, who was the only one listening into their conversation.
"You should have just asked her out then. She would have said yes."
"I know, but I was stupid. So, let's drop it." Ron continued to give him a hard time until they neared Ginny, who threw her arms around Harry's neck.
"You're too damn beautiful to be let on a broomstick, you know that, Gin?" he asked into her hair.
"Is that why I saw you almost give the Snitch up to Charlie?"
"Yes, I couldn't stop watching you." Ginny smiled broadly and kissed him thoroughly.
"Get a room!" yelled one of the twins and threw a chip at them. Angelina hit him so Harry guessed that it was Fred.
"Let them do what they want! They are adorable together."
The rest of the afternoon was spent talking to each other all around. Harry spent most of the time under a tree with Ginny, Ron, Hermione and Harry Jr. Steve had gone home for a couple minutes to get a Frisbee so that he could teach the others how to play. The four friends laughed in amusement as Fred went flying into a thorny bush for the third time. By the time the large group was done playing Frisbee, Fred had gone into the bush a total of eight times. The rest had grass stains all over their clothes from skidding on the ground. All of them found the little Muggle disc to be a lot of fun and all vowed to get one so that they could play during the summer at the Burrow.
Dinner was served at 5:30. Harry was seated at the end of the picnic table next to Ginny with his back facing the trees behind him. Sirius sat across from him and the whole group was actually talking about the same subject for once. Harry looked at Molly a little way along the table and saw her brow knit in concentration.
"Why isn't Harry here? I know I invited him," she burst out all of a sudden. She looked visibly upset. Harry, Ginny, Ron, Hermione and Sirius all exchanged glances. Ginny and Ron nodded their heads at Harry as a go ahead. Molly took the gesture as a sign that something bad had happened to him.
"Oh dear, what has he gotten himself into this time? All my hair will be grey by the time he stops worrying me. I think I might be dead before that happens," she added as an afterthought.
"Actually, Molly, he's quite all right. And I'm sorry that I wor..." Harry trailed off as he saw Sirius get up and stand next to the edge of the table looking into the trees intently. It was already starting to get dark since it was January and Sirius was squinting to see whatever he was seeing, better.
"Sirius? What is it?"
"Quiet!" he hissed. The entire table went quiet under his order. Harry got up and looked to where Sirius was looking.
"Just sit down, I'll be right back." He transformed into his dog form and hurried away into the trees.
"What's his problem?" asked Steve. Harry shook his head in confusion.
"I have no idea. I have a feeling that something is there. His dog senses can come through when he is a human. Any Animagus's form can come through to the human. He probably sensed or smelled something there..." Harry watched the area where Sirius disappeared in silence. "Come on, Sirius," Harry muttered under his breath. Ginny took his hand and held it tightly. Ten long minutes had passed when the large group could make out Sirius big dog form racing back to the picnic area. Arthur conjured up flames in mid-air to light the rapidly darkening area. Sirius transformed back just as he reached Harry. He was out of breath from running and crouched over and pointed to the woods.
"There's...there's..." A bright flash of blue light illuminated the area and Sirius immediately jumped in front of Harry and wrapped his arms around him so that Harry's arms were pinned to his sides. Harry looked into Sirius's face.
"Sirius, what are you doing? What's going on?" Sirius didn't get a chance to answer before his body started to convulse and dropped to the ground. He clutched his chest and started gasping for breath and tried to speak at the same time. Harry dropped down to his knees beside him as a bright yellow shield went up over all the picnic tables, held up by Greg and Brian.
"Harry...Harry, please. Promise...you'll tell everybody who you are, not just....the Weasley's. Everybody."
"Sirius, oh god, what's happened? Finite Incantatem," he muttered under his breath. Nothing changed.
"Promise me!"
"I promise, I will, Sirius. I promise. But you'll be OK. You're talking like you're not going to make it. What did they do? Just please keep fighting, please," Harry begged.
"Harry, you know that you're....the son I've never had. Ever since I've gotten to know you in your third year, I've loved you like my own. You and Remus, you're my family. My only family left..." Sirius cried out in pain again and sweat started to bead up all over his face.
"Always....remember that, Harry. Your father would be proud, I'm proud of you." Sirius grabbed his hand and squeezed it hard but it was slowly losing it's strength.
"No, no, Sirius. Keep fighting."
"I can't, Harry. This curse keeps going until you're dead." A loud sob escaped Harry's throat as he heard him say those words.
"No, you can't die," he laid his forehead on Sirius's shoulder. "Please, I need you still. I love you, please, no."
"I know. You'll be.....fine. Moony's still here, your parents and I will watch over you. You'll watch out for each other."
"We will," said a quiet voice that was choked with tears behind Harry. Harry didn't need to look up to know that it was Remus. Remus went to the other side of Sirius and kneeled down beside him.
"I always thought I would be first to go. Me being the werewolf and all," he said mournfully. Sirius gave him a weak smile.
"You were always the strongest one though. Moony, thank you for being my friend." Remus smiled at him.
"Thank you for being mine, Padfoot. It meant a lot, it really did." Sirius turned his attention back to Harry.
"Thank you for believing me when I told you I didn't turn your parents over to Voldemort. You saved my life and I just paid you back."
"You didn't have to," Harry choked out.
"I did, I wouldn't have been doing my job as your godfather and guardian if I hadn't. Harry....stay alive, marry Ginny, have kids. Live your life, but please...live it as Harry."
"I will, I promise, Sirius." Sirius reached up and ruffled his hair.
"Good." His hand fell down to his side and he was still. Silent tears ran down Harry's face as he ran his hand over Sirius's eyes, closing them for the last time. His head fell down onto Sirius's chest and he cried openly onto his shirt. After a few minutes, gentle hands started to lift him up off of his godfather's body. He shrugged them off and kneeled by his body and stared at him. The anger began to build inside him. His blood began to boil and run through his body in great fast spurts.
"Harry?" Ginny whispered. "Maybe you should get up and we should take him back to London. Harry closed his eyes tightly and then opened them and looked at Ginny. She gasped and leaned back into Ron, who had the same look on his face as Ginny. Fear, apprehension and worry were all there.
"Harry, I know that look. Don't do anything, stupid," Ron said quietly.
"Don't do anything stupid, you say," he laughed bitterly. "What would you say is stupid? Killing a bunch of Death Eaters who just killed the only man that I knew as a father?"
"You don't know that it was Death Eaters."
"Oh, please, who else? I was recently kidnapped by them and they are sending me threats. I'm going into those woods, and nobody can stop me. They are still there, waiting for me to come out."
"Exactly! You'll be killed."
"It's a chance that I'm going to take, Ron."
"What about Ginny?"
"I'm coming back. Have the Death Eaters ever killed me before? No. I'm here and I always will be here, damn it." Harry walked around Sirius's body and walked toward the yellow shield that was up.
"We're not putting down the shield," said Brian. "We can't risk letting you out." Harry turned around angrily, the magic radiating off of him.
"That damn shield is not going to stop me, Brian! Do you actually think I can't get past it?"
"Nobody can get past it," Greg stated simply.
"OK," replied Harry. He turned on his heel and walked through it. Everybody gasped as he got through and promptly turned invisible.
"But...nobody has ever been able to get through that shield. Especially with two people holding it up," said Brian dumbfounded.
"Harry isn't an ordinary wizard, Brian," replied Ron, who wasn't surprised at all.
"He is Harry?" asked Mrs. Weasley. "I didn't think Sirius knew what he was talking about."
"Didn't you see his eyes, mum?"
"Yeah, they were glowing, green. I didn't even think."
"I haven't seen him that angry in a long time," said Hermione shakily. "I always hated seeing him like that."
"I don't understand. Why were his eyes glowing? That was the scariest thing I've ever seen. And I've seen it happen before."
"They glow when he gets angry. I don't really know why, they didn't start doing that until our seventh year. And something has to really set him off to do that. His powers also become well, even more powerful. That's why he could walk through it. His body is like it's not there. He can even walk through walls when angry enough. You say you've seen it happen before?"
"Yeah, in the first couple months that I knew him. He had been reading the newspaper and now that I think about it, the pictures were moving. So it was probably the wizarding newspaper. I thought I had imagined it. But after he read something, he started swearing and throwing things around. His eyes started to glow, but he said that they were glow in the dark contacts. I believed him since it was pretty dark in the room at the time."
"Do you know what the article was about?"
"Um, I think I heard him mumbling about fudge and it's idiocy. And then something about Voldemort, I didn't know what that was until I found out about him being a wizard. And something about so-called friends not believing anything he says, oh and um....well, he said that he would never talk to one more red-head in his entire life. Especially one's named Ron." Steve grimaced. "Sorry, but I think he was just angry at the time." Ron shook his head.
"I deserved it...."
"What are those things flying towards us?" asked Ginny suddenly.
"They look like wands or sticks," said Mai Lei curiously. They suddenly stopped in mid-air and snapped in half. Sparks of all different colours emitted from them and then they dropped to the ground.
"They were wands, definitely. I'm guessing Harry is right there," said Charlie. A hawk appeared where the wands had been broken and took off into the trees. The entire group was watching silently, nervously, waiting for Harry to return. Bright flashes of light emitted from the trees. Two flashes of green light. Ginny gasped and fell into Ron's arms.
"Oh please, oh please, let him be all right," she sobbed into Ron's shoulder.
"I should go out and help him. We always did things together when we were aurors."
"No, Ron. I know you want to help, but you need to let him do this, he'd probably get angry with you. And plus, I don't want you risking your life tonight. You do that too often," said Hermione through tears.
"Oh look! There's something coming towards us!" exclaimed Katie Bell. In the darkness they could see dark forms floating in the air towards them. They all counted seven and then one walking behind them. When they came into the light, they could see Harry guiding seven Death Eaters in the air. All of which were tied up, two were dead and the rest were stunned.
"Take the shield down, Brian. There aren't any more out there. The rest of them Apparated but I snapped their wands anyway, so it's safe." Reluctantly, Brian and Greg let it down and Harry dropped the bodies drop to the ground very roughly. One he kept in the air and he walked up to it and grabbed him.
"Are you still awake? Good, I want you to see what you've done." He guided the stiff body over to Sirius and put him above him. "This is what you've done, you bastard. You've killed two of your best friends! Have you no conscience at all? Was Remus next on your list? When was it going to stop? When you were the last Marauder left?" The man started squealing in the back of his throat.
"Oh just keep squealing, you little rat. You won't get any mercy from me this time." He threw Wormtail down on the ground as hard as he could. The rat like man squealed in pain. Harry just looked onto him in disgust. He then turned and looked down at Sirius's still form. His grief started to wash over him again and as everybody watched him, they saw that his eyes started to go back to normal. Ron just managed to catch him before he fell to the ground in a mess. Harry squeezed his friend's shoulders, partly to stay standing up and partly to make sure that Ron was still alive. His sobs washed over him in waves and he cried.
"He's gone, Ron. He's really gone."
A/N: I really hate myself right now. I love Sirius! He's my favourite character, what possessed me to do that? Well, please please review! I love getting the feedback. It makes me feel so good! :) I got this chapter out sooner than expected, now to get the next chapter out on my other story.... Which by the way, one of my faithful readers, who has read both of my current on-going stories, pointed out that I like to blow things up! :) I did it in this story with Ginny and I did it in the other one. I really didn't even realise that I did it until she pointed it out to me. It's hard not to do that when you're writing the stories at the same time. As far as I know, those are the only similarities between the two stories and hopefully I won't do it again! I'll make sure not to! So thanks for pointing it out to me. Again, please review! If you have any suggestions for where the story should go, please email or put it in a review because I'm kind of stumped as to where this should go right now. I do have some ideas but they aren't enough. I'll consider everybody's idea!