Chapter Fourteen; Differences of Opinion

Harry wasn't entirely certain how he'd made it back to Hogwarts.  The recollections he did have were of throwing the front doors open and running up to Gryffindor Tower, practically suffocating from lack of air.  Feeling horribly sick and shaking, he'd collapsed onto an armchair by the fire, not having the strength to drag himself up to his room before Ron and Hermione could catch up with him.

As soon as Harry had failed to show up, they'd immediately set of again to try and find him, only to be almost knocked to the ground as Harry had abruptly emerged from the alley beside the inn.  He hadn't stopped running though they shouted to him, doggedly following him back to the castle, wondering what on earth had happened.

Ron bombarded Harry with questions once they'd managed to corner him in the common room.  Was he okay?  What had happened?  Had he seen Sirius?

But Harry only heard them as if from a distance.  His brain didn't seem capable of processing a single thought.  He sat in silence, staring unseeingly into the flickering fire.

Unable to get Harry to speak, Hermione, being more sensitive than Ron, timidly suggested that maybe Harry wanted to be left alone for a little while.  Ron reluctantly agreed and accompanied her to the library.

Not long after they'd gone, Harry left the common room himself and aimlessly wandered around the corridors, his mind filled a blank buzzing, refusing to take anything in or allow any coherent thought to cross it.  Like a zombie, Harry eventually returned to the common room for a few hours, sitting in a corner and absentmindedly stroking Crookshanks who had curled by beside him without being noticed.

Not feeling hungry, he skipped dinner and went straight to bed, but he didn't sleep.  He simply lay there with his eyes shut, wishing that he could forget what he'd seen … wishing he knew how to do a Memory Charm or something … anything …

Harry must have drifted off to sleep eventually because the next thing he knew it was eleven o'clock. Ron was fast asleep in the next bed, his sleep untroubled. For a while Harry lay staring into the darkness.

Then, Harry silently climbed out of bed and drew out his Invisibility Cloak from under the mattress. He went to his trunk and fetched the Marauders Map, the owl whistle he'd got on his birthday, a quill, some parchment and a bottle of ink.  Swinging the Cloak round his shoulders, Harry crept out of the dormitory.

The Owlery was situated at the top of the West Tower. Most of the owls were gone on their nightly hunt, Hedwig included. Harry stepped up to one of the windows and squinted through the darkness. Several owls could be seen swooping on silent wings over the Forbidden Forest.

Praying that Hedwig wasn't far off, Harry raised the whistle to his lips and blew hard. Not a sound could Harry hear, but almost immediately one of the owls circling the forest changed direction, flapping hard, turning back towards the tower.

Like a ghost, Hedwig glided through the window and landed on an empty perch, looking at Harry expectantly with her gleaming amber eyes.

Harry scribbled a hasty note.

Need to talk. Urgent. Behind Zonko's. Come now.

Smudging the ink and blotting the parchment, Harry folded it up and tied it to Hedwig's leg.

'He has to read it now,' Harry told her as he carried the owl back to the window. 'You might have to wake him up.'

With a hoot of understanding, Hedwig sped off into the night and Harry left the tower.

*

On the fifth floor there was a large display room of armour and weapons. At any other time Harry might have enjoyed having a chance to look around at the crossbows, clubs and swords, but all he was looking for right now was a rusted torch bracket. He found it in a shadowy corner behind a small suit of armour. Carefully, Harry reached up past the helmet, gripped the bracket and twisted it ninety degrees to the left.

CccrrrrrrreeeeEEEAAAAKKKKKKkkkkk!

A trapdoor swung open in the opposite corner. Quickly, Harry raced over and jumped through, as the trapdoor slowly started to close, the bracket returning to its original position.

The drop didn't last more than a few seconds. He landed on a huge pile of cushions, a giant cloud of dust erupting suddenly around him, making him cough. Harry scrambled up, hastily dusted himself off and proceeded down a wide, sweeping staircase to an underground tunnel that would take him straight to Hogsmeade.

*

Harry shivered and wrapped his cloak more tightly around him as an icy wind tore through the alleyway, whipping cruelly at his face. Having completely forgotten his hat, snow was settling in his hair.  Squinting through the darkness, Harry struggled blindly on.  All the buildings looked the same in the gloomy half-light.  Feeling rather vulnerable, Harry peered around for some indication of where he was.  Surely he'd have reached Zonko's by now.  Had he missed it, or was it further up the road?

Something white flew over his head and hooted loudly.  Hedwig fluttered down, struggling against the wind and snow, to land on his arm. Hastily, Harry wrapped her up in his cloak, gently rubbing her to warm her up.

Then out of the darkness came the bounding form of a shaggy dog. Icy clouds streaming from his mouth, Sirius ploughed through the snowdrifts and barked at Harry, tossing his head back. Harry followed, head bowed against the wind.

Sirius didn't lead him far, just through a hidden back entrance into the cellar of Zonko's joke shop. It was dimly lit; Harry could only just make out the towering storage crates and boxes packed neatly into the room. Sirius shook himself hard, sending a flurry of snow and ice everywhere, before turning to Harry and changing back into human form.

'Jeez, Harry, you're frozen!' Quickly, Sirius reached out and drew Harry close, rubbing him to warm him up.

Harry shivered.  The snow in his hair had melted with the sudden warmth and was dripping down the back of his neck. He sneezed.

'Now you've got a cold,' Sirius muttered. 'Why on earth couldn't this wait until morning, eh? What's so urgent that you'd risk pneumonia just to speak to me?'

'Where were you?' Harry mumbled through a mouthful of chattering teeth.

'Sorry?'

'Today ... said you'd come ... and you didn't.'

Sirius paused for a moment, then groaned. 'Oh, no ... I forgot ... oh, I'm really sorry Harry ... I must have lost track of time.'

I'll bet you did, Harry thought coldly.

'Tell you what ... tomorrow, I'll sneak into the castle to see you ... don't want you leaving the castle if you're coming down with something.'

'Sure you're not coming to see Professor Torr?' Harry whispered bitterly.

Sirius froze and not because of the sub-zero temperatures.

'What did you ... what?'

'I saw you...' Harry lifted his head and looked Sirius straight in the eyes. 'I saw you with her earlier ... you were with her when you promised to spend the day with me...'

'W-what? When?'

'About four ... saw you leaving Honeydukes with ... with her...' Harry let out another violent sneeze. '... Followed you ... behind the inn...'

'Okay, stop right there, Harry,' said Sirius. 'You were spying on me?'

Harry's brain felt as numb as his frostbitten fingers.

'What? No! Not spying ... when you didn't show, I went looking for you ... I thought something might have - but you were with her!' His voice rose shakily, his anger building. 'I can't believe you broke your promise!'

'Harry - I said I was sorry-'

'Well, it doesn't change the fact that you'd rather see your girlfriend-' Harry spat the word distastefully. 'Than spend time with me!'

'Hold on, that's not fair!' said Sirius, eyes narrowed angrily. 'I never said I'd prefer being with Tia-'

'So, it's Tia, now, is it?' Harry snapped and threw off Sirius' arms and stood glaring at him.

Hedwig, none too happy with the way this conversation was going, hooted softly from the depths of Harry's cloak, asking to be let out. Harry ignored her.

'I knew you didn't tell me everything when I asked about her last time, but I didn't think you'd lie!'

'Okay, that's enough!' Sirius was on his feet, face contorted with fury. 'What I do or whom I'm with at any time is no business of yours. I do not have to tell you anything that does not concern you-'

'But it does!' Harry almost shouted. Hedwig gave a startled hoot and squirmed uneasily as Harry held her close. 'I'm your godson!'

Harry had to stop there as another violent sneeze escaped him, and because he couldn't think of a decent argument with which to continue.

'Doesn't that mean anything to you?' he asked desperately.

'Of course it does!' It was hard to tell if Sirius was shocked or just confused that Harry had just asked him that question.  'When James asked if I would be your godfather, I was overjoyed that he'd even considered me! But I'll be honest with you, Harry; I don't know whether or not James made the best choice, but the fact is I am the one he chose which means that I am responsible for you and I have to do whatever I think is right to do! And if that includes enlisting the help of someone I happen to trust, I don't care if you like her or not! Tia could well be putting her life on the line, trying to help me protect you!' He paused to catch his breath. 'I'm trying to do the right thing here, Harry.'

Harry's head was throbbing, maybe because of the cold. More likely it was due to his anger about the whole situation. He didn't know what to do or say.

'So you think the 'right thing to do' involves lying to me?'  The words simply fell out of his mouth, before his brain could catch up with the thought.

'Harry, I didn't lie to you!'

'You didn't tell me the truth! It's the same as lying!'

'I don't want to hear this, Harry-'

'Why? Does the truth hurt that much?'

Sirius' temper flared like a roaring fire.

'Harry, you're going back to Hogwarts, now!'

'Going to ask your precious Tia to keep an eye on me, are you? Make sure I act like a good little boy?'

'If you keep acting like such a spoilt brat, I might have to!'

'I HATE YOU!' Harry yelled, losing his temper completely. 'AND I HATE PROFESSOR TORR! WHAT DO YOU SEE IN HER? IF ANYTHING? SHE'S NOTHING BUT A HAG!'

'DON'T YOU DARE TALK ABOUT HER LIKE THAT!' Sirius roared back. 'I've had enough of this - I'll take you back to the castle myself!'

Harry backed away, shaking with anger, struggling to form a coherent sentence from his confused thoughts.

Only three words managed to force their way out.

'I hate you!' he hissed.

Sirius moved towards him -

In a rush of feathers, Hedwig tore out from under Harry's cloak, flapping and screeching madly, talons up and straight at Sirius. Caught by surprise, Sirius stumbled backwards, slamming into a tower of crates; Hedwig latched onto his arm, digging her talons in! Sirius shouted in pain, in shock.

Harry bolted for the door. Mad and confused, he raced back outside and up the street. Blinded by tears of rage, Harry stumbled through the snow, moving as fast as he could without any idea of where he was going.

*

If any of the Hogsmeade residents had been awake at one in the morning and had looked out of a window, they would have wondered why a student from Hogwarts was wandering around the darkened streets so late at night with a snowy owl perched upon his shoulder. Or even why he was there in the first place. But Harry didn't care if anyone saw him, much less if he was reported.

His mind was numb. Not a single thought could evade the blank emptiness that he'd been left with. His body seemed to be operating on its own, placing one foot in front of the other, taking him in circles round the village streets.

Hedwig had caught up with him perhaps ten minutes after Harry had fled from the shop. Harry didn't respond to her presence but she knew he was grateful for her company. He didn't have to say anything. She gave an occasional soft hoot, rubbing against his cheek or fluttering her wings, other than that she made no attempt to steer Harry in the general direction of the castle.

If he didn't want to go back, it was his choice.

She wouldn't make it for him.

*

At roughly three in the morning, Harry finally returned to the castle, taking one of the passages he'd memorised from the Map, this one from behind the village bakery which in turn led to a disused dungeon, not far from Snape's office.

Without even lifting his head, Harry silently made his way up to the seventh floor. Hedwig screeched just loudly enough to wake the Fat Lady who was most surprised to see a student out this late. So surprised that she made no comment as Harry gave her the password 'Frogs Breath' and swung open to let him inside.

Harry went to bed, falling asleep the moment his sore head touched the pillow.

Hedwig settled on the windowsill, where she could see him. She stayed awake until dawn, watching her young master toss and turn with the nightmares that plagued him.

*

When Harry finally woke, it was to find Ron and Hermione sitting beside him, talking quietly, looking as though someone had died.

Hermione was the first to realise that he was awake.

'Oh, Harry! Are you okay?' she asked anxiously, leaning over him.

Harry mumbled something, reaching for his glasses.

'You've been asleep nearly all day!' Ron said. 'We thought you might be ill or something.'

At Ron's words, Harry suddenly became aware of how rough he felt. His head was aching, his chest felt tight, his nose was bunged up and he felt like he might throw up. He opened his mouth to ask what time it was, when a deafening sneeze came out instead.

Hermione grabbed a handy box of tissues from Neville's bedside table and handed it to him.

'You are sick, Harry. You should go to the Hospital Wing!'

Another sneeze prevented Harry from answering straight away. Once they'd subsided for a minute, Harry insisted that he was fine. An obvious fib.

'Harry, don't lie.' Hermione said, trying to be firm but friendly at the same time. 'But how on earth did you catch a cold? He wasn't sneezing or anything during the night was he?' she said, directing her question at Ron.

Ron shrugged.

'Dunno.'

'That's a lot of help.' Hermione said, frowning at him.

Harry felt terrible. Now that he was awake, he didn't know how he could have slept with such a bad headache. He shivered. Hermione frowned again and felt his forehead.

'You're burning up!' She withdrew her head as though it had been burnt. 'Harry, you should go and see Madam Pomfrey.'

Harry shook his head. This wasn't a good move. With an audible groan, he fell back onto his pillow, covering his face with his hand.

'Harry?' Ron said, quietly. 'Where were you last night?'

'What?' Hermione jerked round to look at him.

Harry closed his eyes, welcoming the darkness. The light had been making his eyes sting.

'I woke up just gone midnight,' said Ron. 'Harry's bed was empty, I assumed he'd gone to the bathroom.'

Harry could feel Hermione's eyes boring into him.

'Harry, where were you?' she asked, repeating the question.

'Hogsmeade,' he croaked. There didn't seem any point in lying.

'What! Why...?' Hermione was staring at him, he could tell, probably with her mouth hanging open.

Something soft and warm suddenly settled down beside him. Opening his eyes, he looked down into the bright amber eyes of his owl. She gave him a gentle nudge and hooted softly, and turned her head to look up at Ron and Hermione, then back to him.

You can tell them, she seemed to be saying. They'll understand.

Harry stared at her for a minute.  She stared back, and gave another soft reassuring hoot.  And so, with one hand stroking Hedwig, Harry told them.

*

Harry spent the rest of the weekend in bed. He flat out refused to go down to the Hospital Wing, simply wanting to stay put and not have to move.  It all seemed like too much effort and he didn't want Madam Pomfrey fussing over 'a stupid cold' as he so bluntly put it.

Ron and Hermione stayed with him most of the time, but they didn't discuss what Harry had told them. It seemed to be an unspoken rule to avoid the subject.

Harry's cold, although very bad, passed quickly. Ron had dug out the rose quartz that Ginny had given him for his birthday and with Hermione, had figured out how to use it. It was a simple case of focusing the mind on the healing process, and directing positive thoughts to whatever needed to be healed. They'd tested it on a bruise Ron had from their last Quidditch session, before attempting it on Harry. He'd felt a little better after Ron had tried the spell on him and allowed Ron to hang onto the stone for the time being.

Apart from that, only Hedwig stayed with him round the clock, only leaving to hunt for an hour or two at nightfall. And Harry was grateful.

His friends were all he wanted or even needed right now.

*

Unfortunately, as soon as Harry felt well enough to get to out of bed, the subject of his godfather came up again. Hermione made him repeat everything he'd seen and every word that had passed between him and Sirius, using Harry's Voice Box to record it. The memory of that day was enough to make him ill all over again. Instead a noticeable change came over him. He had become increasingly bad tempered and irritable. Ron, unsure of what to do, kept his distance while Hermione did her best to get Harry to talk about it. She gave up when Harry snapped at her to go away. Rather hurt, she did as she was told.

However, too much time alone, brooding over the same problems over and over, isn't a very healthy thing to do. But everything seemed to remind Harry of Sirius and that evil enchantress who was his girlfriend. The mere mention of that word was enough to make him vomit.

Hermione did try to rationalise the developing relationship.

'You do want him to be happy, don't you Harry?'

Harry grunted.

'So, if being with Professor Torr makes him happy, shouldn't this be a good thing?' she asked, but from a safe distance.

Harry didn't respond beyond a scowl.

'I know you don't like her, but couldn't you try? For Sirius?'

Harry shot Hermione a venomous look worthy of a Basilisk. 

Ron wasn't helping.

'D'you think they've ... er ... you know...' He shifted awkwardly, Harry and Hermione looking confused. 'You know!' he said, going slightly red in the face.  'That thing...?'

Harry got it.

'Ron, don't finish that thought, I'll have to hurt you otherwise.'

Ron heeded the warning and fell silent

'I wonder if they'll...' Hermione murmured to herself.

'What?'

'Oh, um, I was just thinking that ... they might get ... married.' She said the last word so quietly that Harry almost didn't hear it. Almost.

'Marriage? Marriage? How the hell did we get to marriage?'

'Well, doesn't that sometimes happen when two people who really love each other decide to spend the rest of their lives together?' she babbled, wringing her hands.

'But ... Sirius and Tia wouldn't ... would they?' Harry bewilderedly looked from Ron to Hermione.

None of them knew what else to say.

*

To Be Continued

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Please review

All comments and constructive criticism are greatly appreciated.

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Author's Notes

All right!  All right!  I feel bad enough about this already!  *nervously backs into a corner and hides*

Elbereth94 –Aww, don't hate him! I feel so guilty about the last two chapters.

Corrie – Hi again!  Yay, it's nice to know people are enjoying this.

FairyTale – Greetings FairyTale!  Welcome to my little world of Harry Potter obsession!  Oh, yes, definitely - reviews are indeed food for authors – they're all that keep me sane!!  Well, debatable I guess, but they certainly do wonders for motivation!  Particularly if they're miles long  ^_^   *cough-MorganD-cough* 

Don't worry about not having read the first one, it's a bit of a mess (to be honest it's a complete mess but never mind) It was probably really easy to miss it since it took me just over a year to write, postings were weeks apart and I changed the title about halfway through.  Total chaos.  So, major reconstruction and corrections, found a Beta (such a godsend!) and started re-posting.  Much better! 

Professor Torr was quite fun to write, especially the later chapters.  I like the challenge of writing original characters, preferably without making them out to be a Mary-Sue or something equally terrible.  ^_^ 

Evol norgara –  Oh, that was 'fluff'?  Hhm, you'd like more of it?  I'll think about it. *sly grin*  I love the LotR elves!  Hhm, Legolas, *lapses into a wistful daydream*  Sorry?  Oh, don't mind me, I get sidetracked a lot.

Evil spapple pie – Glad you like the mirror, he was literately a last minute addition to the fic.  Fun to write though!   Uh huh, 'evil freak lady' is a pretty decent summary of Professor Torr, and I'm really confusing people who've read the first version, aren't I?  Never fear, the total loose end that was her motive has been neatly tied up in the later chapters.  Wahh!  The guilt never stops!  I didn't want to be so mean to Neville!  Ah, I'm sure he appreciates the Frog.

Lil Lupin – Too true – we aren't perfect, but we can damn well go through the Sirius fic with a fine toothcomb!  I really want that one to be as near perfect as possible.  Jeez, I'm hopeful, aren't I?  ^_^

MorganD – Hee hee, WAFFy! I like that!  Hey, the mirror got a decent reception – pretty good for a last minute addition.  I was racking my brain for another way to get Harry worked up about Sirius.  I'm pleased it worked out okay!

*groans*  Stupid time-scale mistake!  My Beta and I discovered two others in the fic!  One in the earlier chapters that I corrected, and another one nearer the end that I still need to correct!  Okay, I think what went wrong was the time that Harry was supposed to meet Sirius; must have put the wrong time down.  He was supposed to be there for about an hour waiting for him not the silly fifteen minutes you pointed out.  You know, maths was my worst subject at school – and still is!

*sniggers*  I couldn't resist!  I thought it sounded funny having Ron comment on the perfumed letter like that.  ^_^  I'd been reading some Remus/Sirius fics and found them very enjoyable.  Not that this is going to end up with those two together; that would total complicate matters – it's complicated enough as it is!

Would you believe that I'd previously spotted the exact same mistake with Buckbeak in the first edition, and swore to myself that I wasn't going to make the same one this time?  And what have I gone and done??  I did it again!  *bashes head on keyboard*  I forgot to change it! *bang!*  I knew that was there! *bang!* AAARRRGGHH!  *BANG*   … ouch … think I'll stop that now.  Doubt I did any damage … *tenderly feels bump*

I didn't change much in the confrontation between Sirius and Harry.  I felt I had it about right the first time – one of the few parts that didn't need much in the way corrections I'm pleased to say!

See you all next time!

~Voltora~