Chapter Four; Back to the Burrow

Over the course of the next few days Harry went to visit Bella and Remus whenever he could escape the hawk-laser stares of his aunt and uncle. The full moon passed and Remus was looking dreadfully ill but he assured Harry that he would be fine by the end of the week. He also offered to escort Harry to the Weasley's if he wouldn't mind. Harry accepted the offer almost before Remus had finished his sentence.

The Dursleys had relented and given Harry permission to go. It hadn't taken much persuasion because it meant they could get rid of him several weeks earlier than they had hoped. Not to mention that the garden party incident was still fresh in their minds.

Ron sent Pig back with another letter a few days before Remus had planned to leave.

Hey Harry!

Can't wait for you to get here! We're got a visitor who I think you'll want to see. I won't say anymore on that, I might let something slip!

You should be able to get here by the Floo system. You do remember how to use it, right? Try and get here before eleven o'clock, Mum's planning on cooking a huge lunch so it's best if you get here before she takes control of the kitchen fire!

Professor Lupin is welcome to come if he wants.

See you soon!

Ron

Harry felt more impatient than ever after that. Who was this mystery visitor?

Harry had already packed his Hogwarts trunk with all his robes, books and everything else he owned. One of his most cherished possessions was his top-of-the-range racing broom; the Firebolt. Sirius had sent it to him anonymously for a Christmas present in his third year.

Another perk of going to the Weasley's was that Harry would be able to play Quidditch. He played Seeker on the Gryffindor house team and really needed to practise, as the inter-house tournament had been called off last year.

When Sunday finally arrived, Harry dragged his trunk and Hedwig's cage over to Bella's home to find Remus ready to leave, dressed in a worn travelling cloak.

'Ah, Harry,' he said as Harry pulled his trunk into the living room. 'Are you ready? Do you have everything?'

'Yes. I didn't think Hedwig would like travelling by Floo, so she's gone on ahead.'

Bella came into the room holding an odd little ceramic pot and with a dozen cats trailing behind her.

'Well, here you are, you two.' She handed the pot to Remus. 'It's been a real pleasure having you both around.'

'It's a shame we can't stay longer, but it's best if we go as soon as we can; the Weasleys are expecting us.'

Remus pulled his wand out of his battered travelling case and conjured a fire in the grate. Taking a pinch of Floo powder he turned to Harry.

'Ready?'

Harry nodded and grabbed hold of his trunk and Hedwig's cage. Remus threw the powder into the flames. The fire turned emerald green and rose higher.

'Goodbye you two!' Bella waved cheerfully as Remus picked up his case, laid a hand on Harry's shoulder and shouted 'The Burrow!'

The fire roared and whipped them from Bella's front room and into the Floo network. As the flames whirled around them, Harry shut his eyes tight to keep out the soot and held his elbows close to his side as he spun very fast.

Moments later, they were slowing down. Harry opened his eyes slightly, catching glimpses of fireplaces flashing past. Suddenly Harry had fallen forward into the Weasley's kitchen in a cloud of soot. Remus landed with a thud next to Harry on the hearth, groaning softly.

'Are you okay, Remus?' Harry asked, thinking he may have hurt himself.

'Yes, I'm fine, Harry.' He winced as he got up off the floor. 'I'm just not fond of taking the Floo, it makes me feel rather queasy.'

Next moment, almost the entire Weasley clan burst into the kitchen, and within minutes Harry and Remus were enjoying a large lunch of Mrs Weasley's excellent cooking with the rest of the family.

Mrs Weasley insisted that both of them were 'pitifully thin' and needed 'fattening up'. Harry found it rather difficult to empty his plate with Mrs Weasley refilling his plate every five minutes while Ron and the twin's engaged him in the all-consuming Quidditch talk.

'Angelina's left now, so we're another player short.' George said between mouthfuls of ham and salad.

'We need a need a new captain, too,' said Fred. 'Who do you reckon it's going to be, Harry?'

'Probably Katie or Alicia,' said Harry truthfully. 'Somehow I can't see either of you two as captain; we'd never get any serious training done!'

'I can't see ourselves as captain either!' George laughed. 'But what about you, Harry?'

Harry looked up from his lunch in surprise.

'What, me? As captain?'

'Sure. Why not?' said Fred.

'You'd make a great captain, Harry!' said Ron, grinning broadly.

'Hang on, doesn't Professor McGonagall and Madam Hooch decide on the captain?'

'They do have something to say about it, yes, but seriously Harry, out of the five of us left, who else could possibly take on the responsibility?'

'I don't believe that word is part of your vocabulary, George,' said Percy haughtily from his end of the table.

The twins exchanged a look. Then they just sat there, grinning slyly at Percy. Percy's face immediately became clouded with suspicion.

'What?'

The twins continued to grin, eyes narrowing wickedly. Percy quickly looked down at his food.

'All right, what have you done to it?' he demanded, cautiously poking his salad with his fork.

The twins sniggered.

Percy shot them a look of pure venom before self-consciously checking himself over for any appearance altering hexes.

Harry looked down the far end of the table to where Remus and Mr Weasley were talking. Remus was shaking his head sadly as Mr Weasley whispered something to him, a sombre expression on his face.

Harry, although he knew he shouldn't eavesdrop, caught a few snatches of their conversation over Percy's demands to know what had been slipped into his goblet.

'Arthur, you can't … it's not safe …'

'… nothing we can do …'

'… but why … not shown … there's been nothing since … about Harry …'

Harry instantly focused more on their conversation as Remus mentioned his name.

'… just have to wait … be safest at Hogwarts …'

'It's making people nervous … nothing at all … no idea what's going on -'

'Harry? Earth to Harry! Come in, Harry!'

'What?' Harry jerked round to see Ron watching him expectantly.

'You haven't been listening to a word I've been saying, have you?'

'No, sorry. What did you say?'

Ron drew himself up proudly.

'I've decided to try out for the Quidditch team this year, as the new Keeper!'

'Really? That's great!'

Ron beamed with pleasure.

'How about that then?' said George. 'Three Weasley's on the team!'

'We'll be unstoppable!' Fred grinned.

Percy threw down his napkin in exasperation, having spent the last two minutes inspecting it carefully. He glared at Fred and George, then turning to Mrs Weasley.

'Mother, Fred and George are up to something.'

'No we're not!' Fred protested innocently as their mother's eyes narrowed. 'We haven't done anything.'

'Percy's just being paranoid.' George said, failing to hide a cheeky grin as Percy quickly stood up to check his seat. 'It can't be healthy to be that suspicious.' he whispered to Ron and Harry.

Harry laughed with the rest of them but made a mental note to speak with Remus about the Voldemort situation.

After all, what else could they have been talking about?

*

Later that evening, Hedwig turned up while Ron and Harry were attempting to construct a house of cards. They were using cards from an Exploding Snap pack, which was making it much more fun.

Hedwig had just settled down next to a snoozing Pigwidgeon when Harry suddenly remembered about Ron's last letter to him.

'Ron?'

'Hmm?' Ron was carefully trying to stand two cards together.

'You mentioned something about a visitor in your last letter. Who is it?'

Ron gave up on the cards as they slipped off the structure. He gave Harry a sly smile.

'Sorry, but I can't really tell you who it is.'

'What? But you said they were here.'

'Yeah, well, he had to leave early this morning -'

'He?'

'Or she.' Ron amended quickly. 'I'm not saying anything. You'll have to wait until he - or she, gets back.'

'When?' Harry demanded.

'Later.'

'Who is it?'

'Not telling!'

A loud hoot sounded right behind Harry making both boys jump. Hedwig was glaring at the pair of them as she shuffled around on her perch before tucking her head back under her wing.

'Sorry, Hedwig.' Harry gave her a gentle stroke. The owl hooted softly as she went back to sleep.

*

To Harry's increased frustration, he couldn't get Ron to tell him who the mystery person was, nor could he get a chance to speak to Remus, who made a point of leaving the Burrow in the early hours of the morning and returning after dark.

Mrs Weasley had given him the spare room and didn't object to the hours he kept. Harry could only assume that it had something to do with Voldemort, but as no one had mentioned anything about it, Harry couldn't help but think that he was being deliberately kept in the dark.

On the other hand, Ron was eager to train for the Quidditch try-outs so Harry and the twins readily agreed to help and thus spent the next few days in the small paddock the Weasley's owned. Ginny often went with them. She was quite fast on her old Cleansweep Five and certainly kept Ron busy, throwing an old Quaffle all over the place for him to catch.

Fred and George seemed to be attempting to combine Quidditch with Shuntbumps. The result was that they ended up in a tangled heap on the ground more often than staying on their brooms.

Harry soared like a hawk on the wind, astride his Firebolt, speeding through the leafy gaps in the trees.

But while Quidditch was Harry's passion in life and a great distraction, Harry soon found his mind wandering away from the paddock to focus on his godfather, wherever he was.

He still hadn't written back to Harry but at least there still wasn't anything in the Daily Prophet about the Ministry wizards capturing him, which was great news. Sirius may not even be in the country for all Harry knew.

Then a thought occurred. What if Sirius was Ron's mystery visitor! Harry's heart leapt at the possibility. But wait; did Ron's parents know about Sirius? Had anyone told them the truth? That he wasn't a murderer?

Harry paid for his lapse in concentration as Ginny accidentally hit him in the back of the head with the Quaffle, almost knocking him off him broom.

'Oh, Harry, I'm so sorry!' Ginny swooped up beside him, looking terribly anxious. 'Are you all right?'

'Yeah, I'm fine.' Harry readjusted his glasses as they were threatening to fall off and smiled reassuringly at Ginny.

She went slightly pink in the face, then said 'What were you thinking about?'

'Huh?'

'If you don't mind my asking,' she added hurriedly. 'You looked … distracted. Thinking deep thoughts?'

'Oh, um …' Harry thought hard for a moment. Did Ginny know by any chance? Was it safe to ask her?

He glanced over at the twins. They were both pelting Ron with mushy apples. They looked pretty well occupied. He turned back to Ginny.

'Ginny, can I ask you something?'

Her face lit up.

'Sure!'

Harry paused, wondering how best to phrase the question.

'Err … has there been any … um … anyone … dropping by the Burrow recently? Before I got here, I mean.'

Ginny looked puzzled for a second, then smiled.

'Oh, I know what you're talking about.' she said triumphantly.

Harry stared.

'You do?'

She nodded.

'Who is it? Tell me, Ginny, please.'

She shook her head, though with obvious reluctance.

'Sorry. I promised I wouldn't.'

Harry's shoulders slumped and he groaned inwardly.

'Irritating, isn't it?' Ginny giggled. 'When people know something that you don't?'

'Very. Wait, does everyone here know who this person is?'

Ginny glanced over at her brothers, and gave a quick nod.

'Do you have any idea who it is?' she asked.

'I do have one idea who I hope it is, but I somehow doubt that it's him.'

'Well, you'll find out … eventually.'

And she pulled her broom around and sped off back to the others.

*

In the end, Harry gave up on trying to figure it out and started looking forward to when Hermione would be getting back from Bulgaria, when she would be able to come and stay at the Burrow. But what Harry found most odd about the following week was that the Weasleys seemed eager to keep Harry away from the house during the day, Ron and the twins especially.

Everyday they suggested going out on their broomsticks or going down to the village of Ottery St Catchpole. Whenever Harry mentioned going back to the Burrow, one of the twins would 'suddenly remember' something else that Harry hadn't seen and drag him off yet again.

So it wasn't exactly surprising that Harry was beginning to suspect that they were up to something.

*

To Be Continued

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Please review

All comments and constructive criticism are appreciated.

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Lil Lupin – I believe they charge 10 sickles and 5 knuts for a private consultation! ^_^   Yeah, I guess a couple of mistakes were bound to slip by undetected.  Never mind, I'm sure we caught the worst of them!   And I'm still working on chapter six of the Sirius fic – getting through the mental block on that one quite nicely. :D

Christy – I could not resist including Remus! *silly grin*  How could I not include an absolute favourite? 

Evil spapple pie – Hello again!  Nice to have you back for the second round!  Yep, the whole fic has been re-done and improved.  It definitely makes a lot more sense now that the plot has been straightened out.  And thanks for pointing out that mistake, you are correct; that should have been a comma not a full stop.  I'm never entirely sure when to use which punctuation mark when the speech is broken up like that.  Glad you liked the spinning table!  Hee hee, personally I'm really pleased with Aunt Petunia being silenced by a piece of melon!  *giggles*