Chapter Six; September 1st

'Has anybody seen my wand?'

'Oi, Fred! That's my broom!'

'Excuse me! Heavy trunk coming through!'

'No! Don't let Pig out!'

'Sorry, Ron!'

'Ginny, is this yours?'

'Where's my hat? I had it a second ago!'

'It's on your head, stupid!'

'Still can't find my wand!'

'Ron, come here, you've got something on your nose.'

'Mum, geroff!'

'George, your wand's in the hall where you left it.'

'Cheers, Dad!'

'Mind that trunk!'

'What trunk?'

Wham!

'Ouch!'

'That trunk you just kicked, dungbrain.'

'What's that doing there?'

'We're going to be late!'

'Fred, what is that in your trunk?'

'Nothing! Honestly!'

BANG!

'What was that?'

'Nothing!'

September the first had finally arrived and no one seemed to be organised in the slightest. Everyone was racing up and down the stairs, bumping into each other, searching for lost robes and wands as they tried to finish packing.

Hermione and Harry had managed to get their trunks sorted out the night before. Ron had insisted that he'd already done his, but at the moment he was attempting to stuff Pig back inside his cage while searching for his broomstick and hat.

The two of them sat outside on their trunks while they waited for the Ministry of Magic cars to arrive. Mr Weasley had asked a friend at the office to lend them to him for the morning.

Hermione was happily describing her holiday in Bulgaria, although most of it was focused on Viktor.

'His family's ever so nice. He's got a little sister, Vanessa, she's only twelve but she has an incredible talent for potions. Viktor's promised to write as often as he can but he does have to train quite a lot. It's just not suitable for him to come back here at the moment -'

Harry listened to her go on and on for about ten minutes before saying that he was going to find Sirius to say goodbye.

It felt odd that while Harry was glad to be going back to Hogwarts, he was also feeling disappointed that this summer couldn't have lasted just a little while longer.

Ron had explained to his parents about Sirius' situation with some help from Dumbledore. Although she'd been very shocked at first, Mrs Weasley quickly became eager to help, especially once she understood that Harry could escape the Dursleys for good if his godfather's innocence could be proven.

Mr Weasley immediately offered to find out if there was a loophole anywhere in the law that might let Sirius off the hook. So far he'd found nothing, but was now trying to locate the files concerning Sirius' conviction and whether or not all the evidence had been considered. Progress was slow and difficult, what with suspicious members of the Ministry in the Law department wanting to know why the Head of the Muggle Artefacts Office would want to look at murder files from fourteen years ago.

Mrs Weasley had kindly offered Sirius a place to stay once he had rounded up 'the old crowd' and done whatever else Dumbledore had asked of him. Sirius had gratefully accepted the offer and later flew to Bulgaria on Buckbeak to fetch Hermione in time for Harry's surprise party.

The twins had been more than a little surprised to discover that Sirius was in fact Padfoot; one of the authors of the infamous Marauder's Map, which they had been using for several years before passing it on to Harry. They relentlessly hounded Sirius for stories of what pranks he and his friends had got up to when they were at Hogwarts, no doubt looking for inspiration for new jokes.

Percy, on the other hand, had been mortified to come home and find a wanted criminal in the kitchen with his family. It had taken a while to calm him down and stop him from notifying the Ministry. He was still rather antsy around Sirius, preferring to keep his distance and question whether his parents were feeling all right in the head.

Ginny had been extremely shy and nervous, recalling that frightening experience during her second year when she thought Black had almost murdered her brother with a knife, but after a while she grew to like him and was perfectly happy hanging around Sirius and the others. She'd taken a liking to Buckbeak as well and Sirius had offered to take her for a ride at night when there was little chance of being seen. Mr Weasley had been apprehensive about the night-flight but Ginny was delighted and had been for a ride almost every night since.

As the last minute panic and chaos continued, Harry went down the garden to the old shed at the bottom. Mr Weasley had converted it into a makeshift stable for the Hippogriff so that he wouldn't be spotted roaming the garden for worms.

Sirius was inside, giving Buckbeak a thorough grooming of his fur and feathers. The Hippogriff's regal head turned sharply as Harry entered, fixing him with a fierce stare.

'Manners, Harry,' said Sirius warningly, placing a hand on Buckbeak's head-collar.

Harry stayed back, made eye contact with the huge animal, then bowed. Buckbeak watched him, blinking slowly. Bending his scaly knees, the Hippogriff sank into a bow, allowing Harry to approach.

'You ready to go?' Sirius asked, running a comb over the Hippogriff's broad back.

'Yes,' said Harry, stroking Buckbeak's feathered head. 'Are you going to be flying all the way to Hogsmeade?'

Sirius nodded.

'We'll leave tonight when it gets dark. There's no way we'll make the whole journey in one night so Remus and I are going to check in with an old friend of ours then go the rest of the way the following night.' Sirius peered curiously out the door. 'What on earth?'

Harry looked back over his shoulder to see Fred and George struggling to stop something very large and purple from escaping Fred's trunk before their mother saw it.

'I'm starting to think that maybe telling them about those pranks I did at school was a bad idea.' said Sirius.

'Ah, but they were such an attentive audience,' said Harry, grinning. 'I bet they can't wait to try and improve on the original tricks. I don't think they'll try anything too dangerous though.'

'It's not them I'm worried about,' Sirius gave a guilty smile. 'Do you have any idea what Molly will do to me if she thinks I've been encouraging those two?'  He put a hand round his throat for empathise, making fake choking noises.

Harry laughed as Remus entered the shed behind him.

'Harry, the Ministry cars have arrived.' Sirius' smile vanished. He instantly looked alert and wary, moving almost unintentionally back into the shadows. 'You'd better get going or you'll miss the train.'

Harry nodded, suddenly hesitant. Quickly, before he could change his mind, he moved round Buckbeak to his godfather and gave him a hug. The momentary awkwardness slipped away as Sirius returned the gesture, ruffling his godson's hair fondly.

'You will be okay, won't you? I mean … no ones going to see you - flying at night when it's dark -'

Sirius smiled reassuringly. 'I don't intend to get myself caught, Harry. What I do intend to do is stay close enough to Hogwarts to be of help to you whenever you need me.' He grinned impishly. 'You can worry about Moony if you want - he's going to be stuck with me for hours on end! You've got to feel sorry for the guy.'

Remus rolled his eyes, muttering to Harry, 'At least he can't make that Hippogriff do a barrel-roll or loop-the-loop,' He fixed his friend with an accusing glare, 'like he used to do on his motorbike.'

Sirius' grin simply widened.

'Wanna bet on that?'

Remus closed his eyes wearily.

'I knew this was a mistake,' he muttered under his breath.

'Harry! Where are you?' Mrs Weasley was marching down the lawn looking for him. Everybody else had finally got themselves organised and in the cars, ready to go.

'Go on, now,' said Sirius, gently steering Harry in the direction of the door. 'I'll see you soon.'

Smiling, Harry nodded, waved goodbye and sprinted away up the lawn to the waiting cars.

*

The Ministry cars slipped through the traffic into London with such ease they arrived at Kings Cross station half an hour early.

Fred and George seemed more hyper than usual as they entered platform nine and three quarters. It was probably because it was their seventh and final year and were obviously going to make the most of their remaining time.

Harry, Ron and Hermione found a compartment for themselves, loaded their trunks and went to say goodbye to Mr and Mrs Weasley.

'Have a good time all of you.' Mrs Weasley said as she gave each of them a hug. 'Watch out for yourselves now.' she added, giving Harry an extra hug.

A loud whistle sounded and all the students still on the platform raced for the train doors. Many were sticking their heads out of the windows saying goodbye to their families.

Harry, Ron and Hermione settled themselves down in their compartment once Mr and Mrs Weasley had left the platform. Fred and George had disappeared, probably looking for their friend Lee Jordan. Ginny had gone off with some of her own friends.

With a sudden lurch, the Hogwarts Express pulled out of the station and they were on their way.

Hermione let her ginger bow-legged cat Crookshanks out of his basket and placed him on her lap where he curled up, purring loudly.

'Hard to believe, isn't it?' she said softly.

'What is?' Ron looked puzzled.

'That we're in the fifth year!' Hermione said in earnest. 'We only have three years left, including this one. Don't you think that our time has gone by really quickly?'

Ron considered.

'Yeah, I guess so. I can still remember getting my acceptance letter.'

'I still have mine,' she said brightly. 'I framed it and hung it on my bedroom wall.'

Ron sniggered.

'You're mad! Framing an acceptance letter?'

'What's wrong with that? I'm honestly very proud of receiving it. I want to preserve it as best I can. It'll remind me of everything I've done at Hogwarts after I leave.'

'That's what photos are for.' Ron indicated the photo album Harry had open on his lap. He'd shown it to Ron and Hermione the morning after his birthday. They'd had a good laugh at the antics of the images of Sirius and Remus in their teens.

One photo showed Sirius standing beside a gigantic motorbike, covered in oil and grease, trying to fix the engine. Unfortunately, the bike kept squirting oil in his face when he went near it. Remus and James were also smeared with the muck and grime but laughing about it just the same.

One of Harry's favourites had been taken at a formal dance of some kind. James was dancing with Lily to the slow, unheard music. Remus was with a pretty girl with blonde curls just behind them. Sirius was dancing with a rather stunning brunette.

The brunette showed up in several photos labelled as being from their sixth year. She was always next to Sirius, often with his arm around her waist or holding hands. Clearly she was his girlfriend.

'They make a cute couple, don't they?' Hermione said, gazing at the photo.

'I think they must have broken up though,' said Harry, turning the page. 'She doesn't appear in any of the photos of their seventh year.'

'Doesn't she?' Hermione looked disappointed. 'Oh, that's a shame.'

'You know what?' said Ron, sitting up straighter. 'We should make one. A photo album of us at Hogwarts!'

Harry and Hermione stared at him.

'Ron, that's a wonderful idea!' said Hermione.

'Pity we don't have any photos of our first few years,' said Harry.

'We could ask Colin if he has any,' said Ron, referring to the little fourth year boy who owned a camera with seemingly endless rolls of film. Colin and his brother Dennis practically worshipped the very ground on which Harry walked. 'He'd be more than happy to give us any photos he's got. Probably offer to take loads of us this year if we say we're making an album.'

They eagerly discussed making their album for over an hour before their fellow Gryffindors caught up with them.

Dean and Seamus came charging into their compartment armed with Chocolate Frog cards. Ron and Harry dug out their own collections and began trading off their duplicates. Hermione chose not to indulge but rummaged around in her bag for her new copy of the Standard Book of Spells Grade 5. A week after Harry's birthday, the whole group, plus Remus and Sirius (in canine form) had gone on a shopping trip to Diagon Alley for their new Hogwarts books and equipment. Letters from Hogwarts had provided them with a list of everything they needed.

Hermione had proudly announced that she had been made a Prefect. This was hardly a surprise but Mrs Weasley had cooked a celebration meal in her honour.

The witch with the lunch trolley came down the train at midday. Harry bought all of his favourites, including a large bag of Bertie Bott's Every-Flavour Beans and a packet of Chocolate Frogs to share with the others. Ron happily gorged himself on Cauldron Cakes until Dean shifted abruptly away from him, saying that it would reduce the chances of him being hit if Ron proceeded to vomit. Ron desisted, much to the relief of everyone.

Neville came in a few hours later, searching for his toad, Trevor. Harry cast a nervous glance at Crookshanks. Hermione took the hint and coaxed the cat back into his basket. If Crookshanks found and ate the toad, neither owner would be particularly happy about it. A quick search showed that Trevor wasn't in their compartment however. Dean and Seamus left soon after that to change into their robes. Neville hung around for a while, sharing a pack of Liquorice Wands he had left over from lunch.

Lavender Brown came storming in half an hour later, holding Trevor the toad at arms length in a handkerchief and thrust him at Neville, thoroughly disgusted at having discovered the little creature in her lunch. He had been cleverly hidden among a batch of Peppermint Toads. Lavender didn't stay to chat. She marched off back to her own compartment further up the train, complaining how disgusting, slimly creatures should stay in swamps where they belonged. Neville gently placed his beloved toad in his pocket and left to change into his robes.

Harry, Ron and Hermione pulled on their uniforms just as the train pulled into Hogsmeade station. They left their trunks in the compartment, which would be taken up to the school by house-elves, and left the train.

The sky was extremely dark with storm clouds but thankfully no rain had fallen yet. A bitterly cold wind was making walking in a straight line rather difficult. Many hats were being whipped off students' heads and blowing around in the air as their owners raced around, snatching at them.

Harry, Ron and Hermione pulled their own hats off their heads and held them tightly in their fists as they struggled against the wind towards one of the many horse-less carriages waiting for them. Gratefully, they climbed into one and shut the door firmly. A few minutes later, many of the carriages set off in an orderly fashion towards the castle.

Harry gazed out of the window to watch as the grand old castle came into view. It looked magnificent with the mountains rising up behind it, silhouetted against the velvet black sky. Soft, glowing lights shone brightly from the many windows through the darkness.

Harry smiled.

He was back where he belonged.

*

To Be Continued.

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Please review.

All comments and constructive criticism are greatly appreciated.

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Authors Notes

Evil spapple pie -  I'll admit it is hard to image Pig hooting in unison with the other owls, but it sounded better than him screeching completely out of tune! ^_~ Glad you liked the chapter; it's one my favourites.

Christy – Thank you, nice of you to say so.  Yep, I felt sorry for Harry never really celebrating his birthday so I wasn't about to miss the chance to give him a surprise party.  Maybe one day he'll get used to people caring about him.  Ah, the Marauder's Map; had to bring that back, it's important!

Lil Lupin – You were Beta-ing at midnight?  I try not to stay up too late writing, everything just goes badly when I do that.  Although I did receive a nifty pen for my birthday that doubles as a torch light!  So if the Inspiration Fairies decide to bite at one o'clock in the morning, I can use that without having to get out of bed to turn the bedroom light on! (And wake other people up)  That's happened to me a couple of times so I wonder if my parents were thinking about that when they bought it for me.  ^_^