Here you go people, chapter 17. Remember to join my group!
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BTW –
I have a Sailor Moon fanfic that I wrote last year as a dare sitting on my computer…Do you want me to post it so you can see how bad I was? Tell me when you review…
Chapter Seventeen
Halloween was fast approaching, and the whole school was buzzing with excitement. A ball had been organised, and everyone was trying to find someone to go with, especially the girls. All of this had gone over Harry's head. He had buried himself in books and studying, which both Ron and Hermione found extremely annoying. Truth is told, Hermione was angry at the fact that Harry had started to overtake her in knowledge, especially with the amount of time he had been like this. Ron was angry at the fact that Harry had once again taken the spotlight by being 'adopted' by the Professors, and Harry was simply ignoring everything that went on around him and waiting for the Hogsmeade trip that coincided with Halloween. He had received a letter from Sirius telling him that he would be there and wished to see him, and Harry could hardly wait until then.
The day finally arrived, and Harry was one of the first people up, waiting impatiently for the time when the teachers would finally allow them to head down to Hogsmeade. It seemed to take forever, but they eventually reached the small village where the majority of students began to spread out, heading off to buy lollies and joke items. Faeries wafted through the air, following their partners in and out of shops, and sometimes stealing something they had bought and running off with it. Harry walked past them slowly, heading towards the cave that Sirius had stayed in last year. They had arranged to meet there, and Harry had brought some food taken from the kitchens for Sirius in case he was eating rats again.
"Hey, Harry!" Harry turned to see Ron running towards him with Hermione not far behind.
"Where are you going, Harry?" Ron panted, leaning over with his hands on his knees in an attempt to catch his breath.
"To see Snuffles," Harry said, continuing to walk.
"Is he here?" Hermione asked, surprised. "Why didn't you tell us?"
Harry shrugged. "I thought I did. I must have forgotten. I seem to be doing that a lot lately…"
Hermione sighed. "Well, do you mind us coming? I'd like to see Sirius again."
Harry nodded absently. "Sure, if you want to."
They finally reached the cave. Sirius was pacing outside the mouth of it in his dog form, looking incredibly serious, which made the scene extremely amusing. When he spotted them he ran towards them, barking madly, and ran back and forward between the cave and them until they reached it. When they were inside he transformed and pulled Harry to himself in a hug. Harry patted his back awkwardly, not used to the kind of affection that Sirius was displaying.
"I'm so sorry I had to leave, Harry. I truly didn't want to, but Dumbledore needed someone he could trust and…"
Harry interrupted him quickly. "It's okay Sirius, really. I know that everyone will have to make some sacrifices if we're going to win against Voldemort. I'm lucky really. All I have to put up with is not seeing you very often, unlike some others…" His voice faded away, and his gaze became unfocused for a second. Sirius glanced at Ron and Hermione questioningly.
"One of the kids at school's parents were killed, and they blame Harry," Hermione whispered to Sirius. At that moment Harry seemed to jerk out of his reverie, and turned to face them.
"We need to get out of here. Now."
"What are you talking about, Harry? There's no need to leave yet!" Ron protested, shaking his head slightly.
"Trust me, we need to leave, right now," Harry insisted.
"Harry, you're being stupid. There's no need to leave at all. Don't you want to talk to Sirius some more?" Hermione said, crossing her arms across her chest.
Indecision flickered across Harry's face, before it hardened, and he sighed.
"Then you leave me no choice. I'm sorry."
He raised his wand and pointed it at the two of them. "Stupefy," He said in a dull voice. The two fell to the ground, unconscious.
"What are you doing, Harry?" Sirius questioned, staring at his Godchild.
"There's no time to explain. You can either help me carry them out, or I can stupefy you too." Sirius paused for a moment, considering his options, then lifted Hermione quickly.
"You're going to have some serious explaining to do once this is over, Harry."
" I know."
The two carried Ron and Hermione behind some large bushes, and laid them on the ground. Harry them forced Sirius to lie down beside them, and pulled his invisibility cloak out of his robes.
"Engorgio," He muttered, pointing his wand at the cloak. Soon it was as large as a blanket, and he spread it over his two unconscious friends and Sirius, before crawling under the cloak-turned-blanket himself.
"Harry, what is going on?" Sirius hissed, glancing at him. He was beginning to suspect that Harry had gone crazy, and he didn't like the idea.
"Quiet!" Harry hissed, clapping his hand over Sirius' mouth. Sirius was just about to protest when two black-clad figures came into view.
"I don't see why we have to be the ones to come and get him," A whiny, high-pitched voice came from one of the figures.
"The Dark Lord chose us, that's why. It is not our position to question his orders," The other retorted in a slightly gravelly voice.
"Still, he should have chosen someone with more experience," The whiny one said. You could almost see him pouting unhappily, despite the mask covering his face.
The other one groaned slightly, before walking into the cave, muttering 'lumos' quietly. A few moments passed, before the man's voice echoed out of the cave mouth.
"He's not here!"
"Are you sure?"
"Of course I am! It's not that big a cave, and there's nowhere for him to hide!"
"He must have heard us coming. He can't have gotten too far though. Let's search these bushes."
A pair of boots clomped towards where the four lay, stopping millimetres from Harry's face. He felt Sirius stiffen beside him, and held his breath. After a long moment the boots turned and walked away again.
"He's not in the bushes, either."
"We can't just go back without him! The Dark Lord would kill us!"
'Literally,' Harry thought grimly.
"We can say that there was no sign of him then tell him that Pettigrew must have been wrong," The gravelly-voiced one said.
"I guess…" The other one said uncertainly.
"Come on. It'll do us no good to keep standing around here. Let's get this over with. We should have brought a Dementor with us."
"We wouldn't have been able to get it through Hogsmeade without causing suspicion," The whiny one pointed out as they turned.
The pair walked away quickly, disappearing over the crest of the hill. Harry waited for a few minutes before standing and pulling the cloak off Sirius and the stupefied Ron and Hermione. Sirius' face was pale, and he was shaking violently. Harry patted his shoulder for a moment, before waking Ron and Hermione.
"Just what did you think you were doing?!" Hermione burst out, her voice shrill. Ron was glowering at Harry, and seemed about ready to give him a good solid whack over his head.
"Death-eaters," Sirius said suddenly.
"What?" Ron asked, surprised.
"There were two Death-eaters. They just searched the cave. If we had been in there…" Sirius' voice faded away, and he shivered. Hermione and Ron gaped at him for a minute before turning to Harry, a question in their eyes.
"How did you know?" Ron breathed.
Harry shrugged. "I heard them coming."
He said nothing more, and the others did not press him. They stayed with Sirius until the sun started to go down, talking about various unimportant things that were happening at school. They all kept glancing back at the cave, however, and conversation soon turned to where Sirius would go. He wasn't sure, and told them that he would have to ask Dumbledore. Soon it was time to head back to Hogwarts and they bid him goodbye, waving until they could see him no longer. All in all it was a very solemn group that headed back to Hogwarts.
