A/N: Here we go again...I meant to get this up much sooner, but I had no
free time this weekend until now! I hope you all like this chapter, some
of it was fun to write, and other parts just got me tired!
Gil-Caleb: Who doesn't want to see Pettigrew get a kiss? He deserves one, that's for sure, I haven't decided yet what his fate will be, you'll see eventually, I'm going to have to make some decisions for the next chapter! This chapter should show them all getting a bit of relief, until the end, but at the end of the story I assure you everything will calm down a lot! I'm sorry if I end up having Harry start walking too soon, he will someday, I've decided, but how soon isn't yet for sure...I don't think I'll be able to make you totally happy on that one, but I'll try! Thanks for reviewing.
A.Dee: I try to make it a little British, but the only thing I know about British stuff is what I read in HP! I'm glad you don't mind though. I also am trying to balance the humor, sappyness, and angst, I hope I'm doing a good job with that. Thanks for the review/reviews!
Ella: I'm gonna have to call you squirrel girl! Where do you live, I thought I lived in squirrelville, but never have I seen 19 in one day, even when I spend the day outside! And you'll see what Harry's dream means! I'll try to keep working some squirrels in to keep you involved!
Black Moon: Thanks for the review, although you did it three times! How exactly did you manage that? Anyway I'm glad you like my story so much, thanks!
Padfoot1979: I hope this is enough Fred and George for ya...there's a prank, but I'm not much of a prankster so its not very good. I hope I don't let you down. I'm really surprised by all the positive responses on the squirrels, I was afraid I was overdoing them!
Phoenix Feather: Well, I'm kind of a slacker with the email, did you ever get any? I did try to send one, but I didn't for chapter 10...I'll try again for this chapter! Now, as an avid Sirius fan, I promise not to let anything SERIOUS happen to him, but I may have to put him up for danger every now and then!
Elizabeth Bathory: I'm glad my fics one of your favs! I'll add you to the list, but I might get lazy sometimes and forget to send an alert! Thanks for reviewing!
Maryanne: Don't you hate when computers malfunction...there's nothing worse! Trust me, I'm getting sick of Harry not being able to walk too, I had to re-write part of this chapter cuz I had him walking through a room! Not good. I am feeling much better thanks, I'm on amoxacillan (sp?) and it's helping a lot! And, it's not that I like being sick, it just gives me much needed free time, being a Senior sucks! Keep reviewing, btw I read your story and liked it, so you keep working on yours and I'll keep working on mine!
Katie: I don't think that was shameless at all, it is pretty weird that we both had wheel chairs though, I swear I did not copy. And I'm not gonna read your story cuz you're not going to finish it...if you were, I'd read it in a heart beat! Now, I must say I don't like any of the pairs I read about in most fanfics...All of them tend to disgust me, I think we're gonna need to see some new characters for romances...there probably won't be any in my story, at least not for the kids, maybe Sirius or Remus will get someone. Now, I promise not to write a Mary Sue, if I write an OC it'll be someone completely unlike myself, I promise!
John: LOL, you're review made me laugh, I'm really glad you like my story so much...I too am a fan of Sirius the hero fics, I just get so happy for both of them, it's great!
The next morning, Harry was the first one up. He blinked and tried to roll over a little, but found that he was trapped. He looked around surprised, to see Sirius practically sleeping on top of him, hugging him like he was a teddy bear. The previous night rushed back all at once. Harry grinned, hoping that Sirius could keep his promise, and never leave him again.
"Sirius," Harry said, poking Sirius's side with his elbow. "Wake up! I need to get out of bed!"
Sirius didn't budge. Harry glanced at the clock by the bed, it was nearly 10:00. He couldn't believe that Remus and Ron had slept that late. Come to think of it, Harry had no idea where Ron had ended up. Again, he tried to wake Sirius, so he could get some answers, but he couldn't make him budge.
He switched instead to a new approach, "Remus! You up?"
He heard Remus come up the stairs and watched as he entered the room. He broke into a wide grin when he saw the two of them. "So I take it he couldn't stay away?"
Harry nodded, "But it's kind of my fault."
Remus replied, "I know Ron told me about it. So you want me to free you?"
"Yes Please!" he said, nodding vigorously.
"Plug your ears," he warned. Harry obeyed.
"SIRIUS!" he bellowed.
Sirius didn't flinch. Remus tried again, but it was hopeless.
"Let's just let him sleep. . . I'll try to pry you free so you can get up and get ready."
Remus pulled one of Sirius's arms out from underneath Harry's back and threw it aside. He then did the same with the other. Next, he rolled Sirius onto his side so that Harry was completely Sirius free.
"I know I was going to have you get out of bed yourself now, but that's just not going to happen with him here," he said, before bending over Sirius and lifting Harry up. He sat Harry down in the wheelchair next to his bed and backed up a bit.
"Your new clothes are in the second drawer of that bureau. . . I installed the bars in the bathroom, so you should be all set there. Just yell if you need anything, okay Harry?"
Harry nodded, "Thanks Remus."
Remus smiled, "Anytime.'
Harry watched Remus leave the room and then moved over to the bureau. He pulled out the drawer, and found piles of clothes. He had jeans, khakis, t-shirts, sweaters, dress shirts, boxers, and socks. All brand new, and all he would ever need. Harry pulled out a pair of boxers, jeans and a sweater and piled them on his lap. He then rolled himself to the bathroom, where he filled the bathtub, and then easily got in and cleaned himself, thinking, "God I wish I could actually take a shower!" He had no problem doing everything by himself, until he tried to put on his jeans. The boxers were no problem, but he couldn't seem to get the jeans on his legs. Harry sighed glumly. He had come so far and now had to give up. Harry threw on the sweater and then called for Remus.
Remus was there within minutes.
Harry turned red and then mumbled, "I can't get the jeans on."
Remus smiled patiently at Harry. "Well that's understandable, good job with the rest though. You're doing well Harry. Let's try to find a way for you to do it yourself though, shall we?"
Harry nodded enthusiastically. He definitely would prefer to put his pants on by himself. Remus stood back, evaluating the situation, Harry was sitting in his chair, with his pants bundled in his lap. "Lets see," he said, biting his lip. "Why don't you put each leg in. . .and then pull yourself up on the bar."
Harry quickly put each leg in its respective hole, he had already tried that of course. He then set his feet firmly on the floor and reached for the bar. Grabbing it tightly, he pulled himself up. With both hands holding tightly to the bar, Harry was able to stand.
"Do you think you can hold on with only one hand, Harry?"
Harry shrugged, "I'll try it. . ." he said tentatively.
Holding one hand tightly in place, Harry took one hand off the bar. He tried to bend down slightly, but ended up slipping. He almost fell face first into the wall, but Remus hurriedly reached out to catch him.
"Well that's obviously not going to work," Remus stated, setting Harry back in his chair. "I can't think of another way for you to do it, unless you somehow get them on while you're sitting. . .did you try that?"
Harry nodded, "They bunch too much when I do it like that."
"Okay, well I suppose you'd prefer if you were the one pulling them up. . .stand again." Harry obeyed. Remus held him firmly around the waist and said, "Bend down and pull 'em up." Harry did, and it worked. Yet, he really wasn't satisfied. He had wanted to find away that he could do it himself. Remus could tell that Harry wasn't pleased with himself.
"You know what we can try tomorrow, Harry? Maybe you can get them on if you lay down. . .you can try it on your bed, just go back to your room wearing just the shorts, sound good?"
Harry shrugged, "Better than nothing."
Remus grinned, "I'm going to go downstairs, breakfast is almost ready, hurry down."
Harry nodded and waited for Remus to leave. Once alone again, Harry brushed his teeth and then tried to tame his hair. For a few seconds he had managed to make it look nice, but after a minute it sprung back up again. He sighed and then rolled himself out of the bathroom and down the stairs, where Ron and Remus were sitting at the table. Harry rolled himself up.
"Morning, Harry," Ron said through a mouthful of eggs.
Harry grinned and replied, "Morning, sorry about last night."
"No problem. . .I like that couch a lot! And that thing about the mop put me right to sleep."
Harry gave him a quizzical look, "What mop?"
"What did Sirius call it. . .an informamercial? Something like that."
Harry laughed, "An infomercial?"
"Yeah that's it, it was the most boring thing I had ever seen! I'd of rather sat in potions with Snape!"
"I'd take the mop any day," Harry responded.
Remus laughed at this, but stopped quickly when he heard a loud sound from upstairs. "What the hell?"
He left the room quickly, Harry and Ron heard him climb the stairs. They looked at each other for a moment, and then at the ceiling when they heard a burst of laughter.
"What do you reckon is going on?" Ron asked.
"Beats me, lets go see," Harry replied eagerly. They were quickly up the stairs, peering down the hall. They heard movement in the room Harry was using so they went to see what was going on. When they reached the doorway, they first saw Remus bent over something on the floor, occasionally laughing slightly. When he heard them enter, he grinned and moved slightly so they could see what had happened. It appeared that Sirius had fallen out of bed, and not woken up because of it. Harry and Ron broke into identical grins and watched as Remus tried to get his friend off the floor. "Ron, help me," Remus said, grabbing hold of one arm. Ron walked over and grabbed the other. The two managed to get Sirius's torso onto the bed, but couldn't get him back on all the way. As he began to slide off the edge, he suddenly woke up, and with a strangled yell he fell straight to the floor. He hit the ground, still yelling, until he heard everyone break into fits of laughter. He looked around bewildered, hair tousled worse than Harry's. "What the HELL are you doing?"
Remus tried to stop laughing to explain, "You fell off the bed-tried to help you back up-didn't work too well!" That was all Remus could say. Ron was rolling on the floor, clutching his stomach he was laughing so hard, and Harry was bent over in his chair. Sirius glared at them all, but then realized the situation. He had to admit, it was pretty funny. Soon he started laughing as well. That was the good thing about Sirius, he knew how to laugh at himself. "What, Harry, did you push me off?" he asked indignantly, but with a twinkle in his eyes.
Harry would have thought up a quick remark, but was still laughing so hard at seeing Sirius scream that he couldn't respond. "It's not that funny guys!" he said.
Ron, tried to stop for a moment and sat up, "You should have seen your face-and heard you scream! It was so-funny!"
Sirius reached up to the bed and pulled off a pillow which he smacked Ron with. The only result of this was Ron laughing harder and rolling back onto the floor. Soon everyone had a pillow, and they were chaotically smashing each other with them. Feathers were flying around the room. It was a great tension reliever for all of them, after the previous night. It calmed nervous thoughts of trials and sentences. However, all good things must come to an end, so the pillow fight ended with the sound of the fireplace.
Harry groaned when he heard it, "Madam Pomfrey," he said.
"I'll get her, Sirius, can you try cleaning up the feathers? Don't let them help, she can't see the boys with wands!"
Sirius nodded and with a few swishes of the wand the feathers vanished. Harry tried to cool his nerves, and Ron tried to calm his laughter. Sirius couldn't help himself, however, and batted Ron with the pillow one more time, sending a few feathers flying, and shooting Ron into another fit of laughter.
When they heard movement at the stairs, however, they calmed down for good. Sirius sat down at the edge of the bed, in pajamas, but not caring. Ron went and sat on the windowsill, and Harry moved his chair to and fro nervously. Today was like a trial for him. One not as dire as the one Sirius would soon be facing, but important none the less. Harry was going to learn once and for all whether or not he would be walking again.
As Madam Pomfrey stepped into the room, the tension grew thick. Harry sat nervously in his chair, and Ron lost all traces of a grin. He prayed with all his might that Harry would get better. Truth was, Harry was a lot less fun when he couldn't move, not that Ron would have minded too much, but all the same.
"So Mr. I'm-always-hurt, Albus tells me you were able to move your toes?"
"Yeah," Harry replied nervously, "Twice."
"That's very good. Can you show me?" she asked kindly.
Harry looked down at his toes, and willed them to move. Everyone was watching him, adding to his anxiety. Harry was beginning to sweat as he focused all of his energy on moving his feet. He could not move them however."
Harry stopped trying when he heard someone stand up. He looked up to see Sirius walking towards him. He knelt in front of Harry's chair, "You can do it Harry, just focus, don't worry about anything, just make those toes move, I know you can do it."
Harry nodded his head in determination, and looked back down at his feet. He again set all his energy on wiggling just one toe. He gave up and took a deep breath before trying again. This time, he made his big toe move in a small circle. He looked into Sirius's face to see a proud grin staring back. "Told ya," he replied excitedly. "Think you can do more?"
Harry shrugged and tried. This time, he managed to move his right foot up and down a little on the foot rest. "Excellent, Mr. Potter," Madam Pomfrey crowed, looking amazed. Even from a tough guy like you I didn't expect to see such progress. I think we can expect a very speedy recovery from you. You should be on your feet again by the start of term. Now I beg you, do not come too dependent on this chair."
Harry grinned broadly, ecstatic about the news. He looked at everyone else in the room to see that they were just as happy, Sirius the most. Harry saw a faint trace of tears in his godfather's eyes. Sirius stood and gave Harry a hug, whispering, "I knew you had it in you, I knew it."
After they broke a part Madam Pomfrey went back from being amazed to annoying overprotective nurse. "I'm going to put you on a strict regiment Potter. Everyday you will need to do certain exercises, and experiments. I'll show you them momentarily. Aside from that, I want to see that you are eating better. You will put on at least fifteen pounds by September 1, or I'll see to it that you never leave my sight while you are at school, understood?"
Harry nodded grimly. Madam Pomfrey could really scare him at times with her intensity.
Madam Pomfrey then went on to show Harry his daily exercises. They were fairly easy, and Harry was eager to try them out and see the results. Despite the wonderful news she had everyone was happy to see her go, they all thought she took her job to the extreme, and especially for Harry, it was scary sometimes.
After she left, Remus, Ron and Harry finished their breakfast while Sirius showered and got dressed. He ate ALL of the leftovers, which could have lasted Harry the rest of the day. It was nearly 11:30 by the time he finished and Remus cleaned everything up.
"Well," Sirius said, "Ron leaves in about three hours, and we should be hearing from Dumbledore by five. . .what shall we do until the time comes?" Everyone was aware that once Ron left, the mood around the Lupin Loft would be much heavier, so they wanted to make the best of the next few hours.
"Well, it's not too nice out, so I think we're going to have to stay in here," Remus replied. They all looked out the window. The sky was gray, like it was going to rain any second, but just never seemed to. Trees were swaying hard with the wind, which howled against the house every now and then. It was the kind of day that could give you the chills even though you were inside, as it did for Ron, who shook slightly as he looked out the window.
"Can we watch more of the television?" Ron asked, looking away from the window.
Harry nodded in agreement. He didn't feel like doing anything too crazy that day. They made their way into the living room and sat in much the same way as they had done the previous night. "You want to watch a show, or a movie?"
"Movie," they all replied.
"Lets do something funny this time though,"
"Austin Powers?!" Sirius asked excitedly. "Yeah baby!"
Harry nodded enthusiastically. Dudley had been allowed to see Austin Powers International Man of Mystery, the previous summer, but Harry was not allowed to attend.
"Fine," Remus said, "Ron you're in for a real treat." Remus said this sarcastically. While he thought the movie was amusing, he never got into it nearly as much as Sirius.
Ron and Harry were both lying on the floor watching the film, and they rarely stopped laughing. Ron almost passed out he was laughing so hard when Austin was attacking one of Dr. Evil's men in the bathroom.
"Who does number two work for?" Ron repeated after it was said. He could barely get it out though, he was laughing so hard. Tears of mirth were streaming down his face. Harry, Sirius, and Remus were laughing insanely too, but not at the movie. The only thing that was really keeping them entertained was Ron's reactions to everything.
When the movie ended everyone's stomach's hurt from laughing so hard. "Can we watch that again?" Ron asked eagerly.
Harry laughed, "I don't think my stomach could handle that. . .isn't their another one coming out soon?"
Sirius nodded, "Yeah, it's called The Spy who Shagged me."
"I have got to see that!" Ron said
"Well you can't yet."
"Do you have any more funny movies?"
"Yeah, but since we had to rewind so many parts so that you could see them again we don't have time to watch one," Remus replied cheekily.
"Sorry, it was just so funny!"
"Can we at least watch a little of one,"
"Yeah, come on, please?" Harry chimed, he was getting a real kick out of seeing Ron watch these movies.
"Fine by me," Sirius replied, he was loving it just like Harry.
Remus sighed, "Fine, which one Sirius?"
"Uh. . .American Pie?"
"No, that's not happening."
"Why it's funny?"
"It's rated R. . .or your copy is x isn't it?"
"So what they can handle it,"
"No Sirius, they're not watching that,"
"Fine, how about Ferris Bueller?"
"I don't know if they'll like that, but okay."
"What do you mean they won't like that, it's a classic!"
"You know some people don't like that...James didn't."
"I think with Ron here, anyone will like this movie."
Ron grinned at this.
"Now, it's not as funny as Austin Powers, but it's really good nevertheless."
The boys nodded as Remus got up and dug the movie out. He popped it in, and they began watching Ferris Bueller.
About fifteen minutes into the movie, Ron, fascinated, said, "That's a muggle school? I want to go to one of those."
"Trust me Ron, you don't."
When three o'clock came around, they were still watching the movie, and the twins were late. Sirius and Remus shrugged and continued watching the movie. At around 3:15, the bell to the fireplace went off. Ron groaned it was an intense part, Principal Rooney was going into Ferris's house.
Remus got up, and did the fireplace drill, soon Fred came flying through the fireplace, a few moments later, George followed.
The second they stepped into the house, their identical eyes were glued to the screen. They happened to walk in just in time to see Ferris's sister kick the crap out of Rooney. Ron started laughing first, and then Fred and George followed. Soon the entire room was in an uproar. "What the bloody hell is this?" Fred asked when he was done laughing.
"It's called a movie Fred," Ron said acting like a now-it-all, though he himself hadn't known the previous night.
"What's a movie?" George asked.
Harry groaned and tried to explain it like he did to Ron.
Fred and George looked like they didn't understand, but they both nodded their heads anyway.
"Well, Ronnykins, get ready to go, we need to talk to Harry, and then need to get back."
"All my stuffs upstairs," Ron whined, not wanting to leave the movie.
"So get it!" Fred said testily. Harry had noted that the twins were both acting far more serious than he had ever seen them.
Ron looked rather frightened of them for a moment before he grudgingly got up and went towards the stairs.
"Professor Lupin..." Fred began.
"And Sirius Black, Mum tells me you're innocent, congrats on escaping by the way..." George continued seriously.
"Would you two mind if we had a word a lone with young Harry here?" Harry looked bewildered, and slightly worried.
Sirius eyeballed them suspiciously, but left the room any how. Remus soon followed, knowing full well that they were plotting to do something. Harry rolled onto his back and pushed himself into a sitting position on the floor. "What do you two want?"
"Well first, we'd like to say thanks for the money. We've invented fifteen prototypes already, and are working on a few more," George said.
"We've already had a few offers on some of them," Fred added.
"You'll be reimbursed some day, I can assure you of that." George said.
"Second," Fred said as he and George walked over and sat on either side of Harry. Fred leaned closer to him, and whispered, "We're gonna play a joke on Ron, but we need your help, just play a long okay?"
"We're just going to get him really worried, see? We've already acted like bossy jerks, and all serious you know? And I think he's already a bit scared."
"At home, when he comes out of the fireplace, we're going to tell him that Ginny's really sick. You know he acts like he doesn't like her, but he's SO protective of the girl, you'd think he was her father!"
"So when he goes to check on her, he'll be met with a load of Filibuster's, which should do well to scare the bloody hell out of him."
Harry grinned. He too had seen that although he finds her annoying at times, Ron cared A LOT about Ginny. "So what do you want me to do."
"Just act worried when he comes back down. Like we've already told you something's wrong. Sorry you won't be able to see the outcome though, it's going to be brilliant!"
Harry thought for a minute, "You should really get Sirius and Remus involved in this, they used to be the biggest pranksters, along with my dad."
Fred and George looked skeptical.
Harry laughed, "Trust me they can help."
Fred and George exchanged a look. "Well, they're probably amateurs compared to us, but we'll give it a shot," Fred said finally.
"Where are they," George asked.
"Kitchen, right through there." Harry replied pointing. George walked to the doorway and beckoned them back in.
Harry decided he should be the one to get them involved. "Fred and George are playing a prank on Ron, I though you two could help."
Sirius look changed from curiosity to glee when he heard that. "A prank! Moony, we haven't done any pranks in so long! What are you guys doing?"
Fred and George looked amazed. Fred whispered to George, "Did he just say Moony?"
Harry didn't hear Fred, and went on to describe the prank to Remus and Sirius. "You mean we don't even get to see the end result?" Sirius asked disappointed.
"No, but I'm sure Ron will tell me about it later on."
"Lets do it Moony," Sirius said, Remus nodded his head in agreement.
"Ummm...Padfoot, you look like Mr. Caring, okay? Since I know Ginny, I'll look worried, we can tell him some of that, we'll always be here for you stuff, etc...sound good boys?"
Fred and George didn't hear anything that came after Padfoot. They looked suspiciously at Harry, "Why do they keep saying Moony and Padfoot?"
Harry laughed, he had forgotten to tell them about that. "Fred, George, I'd like you to meet Moony and Padfoot."
Their identical mouths both dropped wide open. "But...teacher...no way!"
"Marauders... ...!"
Remus and Sirius laughed. "Yeah, we're the marauders, or at least what's left," Sirius replied slightly sadly. "Wait, how do you know who we are?"
"We found your map in Filch's cabinet. Found it pretty useful for our troublemaking. Then we gave it to Harry here so he could go to Hogsmead even though those blasted muggles hadn't signed his form." George explained. "Handy map that is."
Sirius nodded, "It was James idea to make that, he always had the ideas to make things easier, that invisibility cloak of his helped a lot too. I was the one who thought of all the pranks, and Moony here always thought of the best way to execute them without getting in trouble. Wormtail just tagged a long."
Everyone, including the twins turned angry at the thought of Wormtail. Fred and George obviously had been told what Peter had done, and were clever enough to put it all together that Peter was Wormtail. In an attempt to lighten the mood, Fred decided to go back to the plan. He told Remus and Sirius exactly what they had to do, which was precisely what Remus had already suggested.
They all turned when they heard Ron begin to clunk down the stairs.
"Remember the plan," Fred whispered. They all immediately put on slightly worried faces.
When Ron reached the bottom of the stairs, he looked at everyone and stopped.
"What's going on?" Ron asked tentatively.
"Nothing Ron, lets go, you've already wasted precious time." Fred said sternly.
Ron looked worried, Harry was having trouble not laughing.
"Do you have all of your things Ron?" Sirius asked in a caring voice.
Ron nodded.
"You should be on your way then," Remus added.
"Did something happen?" Ron asked, his voice shaking slightly.
"No time to talk Ron we have to go NOW!" George replied shortly. Harry marveled at what great actors they were. They were almost fooling him and he was in on the joke. "Poor Ron," he thought.
Fred grabbed Ron's bag and stepped through the fireplace. George followed, but winked at Sirius before he left, in hope that he'd remember the plan. Sirius nodded solemnly, so that it looked like a goodbye. When George was out of sight, Sirius walked towards Ron, he put a hand on each of his shoulders and looked him square in the face. "Ron, I want you to know that you can always come here if you need anything. If stuff at home becomes too much, you are always welcome here. Remember that." With that, he let his shoulders go. Remus just stood back, fake tears in his eyes.
Ron looked literally terrified. He gulped and then walked towards the fireplace. "Thank you, Harry I'll see you soon, right?"
Harry nodded, trying to look as sad and worried as the others, but finding it to be much more difficult. "Good bye Ron," he said, as solemnly as he could. Ron gulped again and then stepped into the fire mumbled something and was gone.
Harry cracked a big grin when his friend left. "I wish I could see his face after this...he's probably going to send me a howler." Harry broke off laughing. Sirius and Remus joined in.
"Those twins are pretty good, I must say," Sirius said when they finished laughing.
"They tried to send me a toilet seat once when I was in the hospital wing," Harry replied, smiling at the memory of Dumbledore telling him that.
Remus just shook his head, smiling slightly. He got up and pressed play, and they continued watching the movie. It soon became obvious that it was just not as fun without Ron around. When the movie ended, Sirius looked the opposite of what he had before the movie started. His eyes were darkened, and his skin looked pale. His hair was matted down like he had run his hands over it repeatedly, and a close look would show that he was shaking.
"Padfoot, you alright?" Remus asked taking in his friends appearance.
Sirius shook his head, "I have a really bad feeling Moony. Something's not going right!"
Harry looked worriedly at his godfather, he too had been having some bad feelings after Ron had left.
Remus was the first to speak up. "Sirius, you need to calm down. You can't run yourself down like this until you know what has happened. Okay?"
Sirius tried to nod his head, but gave up as he ran to the bathroom. The sound of him throwing up soon lofted into the living room. Remus and Harry looked grimly at each other. When Sirius came back, he was shaking harder.
"Lay down Padfoot," Remus ordered. Sirius obeyed immediately. He was sweating profusely, but his skin was cold, making him shiver. If Harry hadn't know better, he would have said Sirius had the flu.
"I'll go make you some tea," Remus said once Sirius was in place on the couch. Harry got into his chair and went and pulled a blanket out of the closet he had seen Sirius go into the previous night. He brought it over to Sirius and threw it on top of him.
"Thanks Harry," Sirius said, his teeth chattering away.
Harry made to leave, but Sirius grabbed the back of his chair, "Where are you going?"
Harry turned around, "I was going to go upstairs."
"Can you stay here?" Sirius asked. It was like he didn't want Harry to leave his sight. Harry nodded. He was only going to leave because he had thought Sirius would want to be alone. Harry locked his wheelchair in place and pulled himself out and sat on the floor, so his back was against the couch, just below Sirius. When he was settled, he felt Sirius wrap an arm protectively over Harry's chest. Harry looked up at his godfather to find that he was drifting off into sleep. "Good," thought Harry, "Maybe he'll feel better if he sleeps. However, Sirius never fully managed to get to sleep, just as he was dozing off the bell sounded from the fireplace. He nearly fell off the couch when it happened, and he tightened his arm around Harry. Remus strode into the room.
"Name please?"
It took a few seconds, but a haggard voice came through, "Albus Dumbledore."
That's all for now. Please review whether you liked it or not. I was pretty happy with the number of reviews for this chapter, but I'd love to beat that number. So if you read this chapter, please review, just to tell me that you read it! More to come soon...I'm on vacation!!!!
Gil-Caleb: Who doesn't want to see Pettigrew get a kiss? He deserves one, that's for sure, I haven't decided yet what his fate will be, you'll see eventually, I'm going to have to make some decisions for the next chapter! This chapter should show them all getting a bit of relief, until the end, but at the end of the story I assure you everything will calm down a lot! I'm sorry if I end up having Harry start walking too soon, he will someday, I've decided, but how soon isn't yet for sure...I don't think I'll be able to make you totally happy on that one, but I'll try! Thanks for reviewing.
A.Dee: I try to make it a little British, but the only thing I know about British stuff is what I read in HP! I'm glad you don't mind though. I also am trying to balance the humor, sappyness, and angst, I hope I'm doing a good job with that. Thanks for the review/reviews!
Ella: I'm gonna have to call you squirrel girl! Where do you live, I thought I lived in squirrelville, but never have I seen 19 in one day, even when I spend the day outside! And you'll see what Harry's dream means! I'll try to keep working some squirrels in to keep you involved!
Black Moon: Thanks for the review, although you did it three times! How exactly did you manage that? Anyway I'm glad you like my story so much, thanks!
Padfoot1979: I hope this is enough Fred and George for ya...there's a prank, but I'm not much of a prankster so its not very good. I hope I don't let you down. I'm really surprised by all the positive responses on the squirrels, I was afraid I was overdoing them!
Phoenix Feather: Well, I'm kind of a slacker with the email, did you ever get any? I did try to send one, but I didn't for chapter 10...I'll try again for this chapter! Now, as an avid Sirius fan, I promise not to let anything SERIOUS happen to him, but I may have to put him up for danger every now and then!
Elizabeth Bathory: I'm glad my fics one of your favs! I'll add you to the list, but I might get lazy sometimes and forget to send an alert! Thanks for reviewing!
Maryanne: Don't you hate when computers malfunction...there's nothing worse! Trust me, I'm getting sick of Harry not being able to walk too, I had to re-write part of this chapter cuz I had him walking through a room! Not good. I am feeling much better thanks, I'm on amoxacillan (sp?) and it's helping a lot! And, it's not that I like being sick, it just gives me much needed free time, being a Senior sucks! Keep reviewing, btw I read your story and liked it, so you keep working on yours and I'll keep working on mine!
Katie: I don't think that was shameless at all, it is pretty weird that we both had wheel chairs though, I swear I did not copy. And I'm not gonna read your story cuz you're not going to finish it...if you were, I'd read it in a heart beat! Now, I must say I don't like any of the pairs I read about in most fanfics...All of them tend to disgust me, I think we're gonna need to see some new characters for romances...there probably won't be any in my story, at least not for the kids, maybe Sirius or Remus will get someone. Now, I promise not to write a Mary Sue, if I write an OC it'll be someone completely unlike myself, I promise!
John: LOL, you're review made me laugh, I'm really glad you like my story so much...I too am a fan of Sirius the hero fics, I just get so happy for both of them, it's great!
The next morning, Harry was the first one up. He blinked and tried to roll over a little, but found that he was trapped. He looked around surprised, to see Sirius practically sleeping on top of him, hugging him like he was a teddy bear. The previous night rushed back all at once. Harry grinned, hoping that Sirius could keep his promise, and never leave him again.
"Sirius," Harry said, poking Sirius's side with his elbow. "Wake up! I need to get out of bed!"
Sirius didn't budge. Harry glanced at the clock by the bed, it was nearly 10:00. He couldn't believe that Remus and Ron had slept that late. Come to think of it, Harry had no idea where Ron had ended up. Again, he tried to wake Sirius, so he could get some answers, but he couldn't make him budge.
He switched instead to a new approach, "Remus! You up?"
He heard Remus come up the stairs and watched as he entered the room. He broke into a wide grin when he saw the two of them. "So I take it he couldn't stay away?"
Harry nodded, "But it's kind of my fault."
Remus replied, "I know Ron told me about it. So you want me to free you?"
"Yes Please!" he said, nodding vigorously.
"Plug your ears," he warned. Harry obeyed.
"SIRIUS!" he bellowed.
Sirius didn't flinch. Remus tried again, but it was hopeless.
"Let's just let him sleep. . . I'll try to pry you free so you can get up and get ready."
Remus pulled one of Sirius's arms out from underneath Harry's back and threw it aside. He then did the same with the other. Next, he rolled Sirius onto his side so that Harry was completely Sirius free.
"I know I was going to have you get out of bed yourself now, but that's just not going to happen with him here," he said, before bending over Sirius and lifting Harry up. He sat Harry down in the wheelchair next to his bed and backed up a bit.
"Your new clothes are in the second drawer of that bureau. . . I installed the bars in the bathroom, so you should be all set there. Just yell if you need anything, okay Harry?"
Harry nodded, "Thanks Remus."
Remus smiled, "Anytime.'
Harry watched Remus leave the room and then moved over to the bureau. He pulled out the drawer, and found piles of clothes. He had jeans, khakis, t-shirts, sweaters, dress shirts, boxers, and socks. All brand new, and all he would ever need. Harry pulled out a pair of boxers, jeans and a sweater and piled them on his lap. He then rolled himself to the bathroom, where he filled the bathtub, and then easily got in and cleaned himself, thinking, "God I wish I could actually take a shower!" He had no problem doing everything by himself, until he tried to put on his jeans. The boxers were no problem, but he couldn't seem to get the jeans on his legs. Harry sighed glumly. He had come so far and now had to give up. Harry threw on the sweater and then called for Remus.
Remus was there within minutes.
Harry turned red and then mumbled, "I can't get the jeans on."
Remus smiled patiently at Harry. "Well that's understandable, good job with the rest though. You're doing well Harry. Let's try to find a way for you to do it yourself though, shall we?"
Harry nodded enthusiastically. He definitely would prefer to put his pants on by himself. Remus stood back, evaluating the situation, Harry was sitting in his chair, with his pants bundled in his lap. "Lets see," he said, biting his lip. "Why don't you put each leg in. . .and then pull yourself up on the bar."
Harry quickly put each leg in its respective hole, he had already tried that of course. He then set his feet firmly on the floor and reached for the bar. Grabbing it tightly, he pulled himself up. With both hands holding tightly to the bar, Harry was able to stand.
"Do you think you can hold on with only one hand, Harry?"
Harry shrugged, "I'll try it. . ." he said tentatively.
Holding one hand tightly in place, Harry took one hand off the bar. He tried to bend down slightly, but ended up slipping. He almost fell face first into the wall, but Remus hurriedly reached out to catch him.
"Well that's obviously not going to work," Remus stated, setting Harry back in his chair. "I can't think of another way for you to do it, unless you somehow get them on while you're sitting. . .did you try that?"
Harry nodded, "They bunch too much when I do it like that."
"Okay, well I suppose you'd prefer if you were the one pulling them up. . .stand again." Harry obeyed. Remus held him firmly around the waist and said, "Bend down and pull 'em up." Harry did, and it worked. Yet, he really wasn't satisfied. He had wanted to find away that he could do it himself. Remus could tell that Harry wasn't pleased with himself.
"You know what we can try tomorrow, Harry? Maybe you can get them on if you lay down. . .you can try it on your bed, just go back to your room wearing just the shorts, sound good?"
Harry shrugged, "Better than nothing."
Remus grinned, "I'm going to go downstairs, breakfast is almost ready, hurry down."
Harry nodded and waited for Remus to leave. Once alone again, Harry brushed his teeth and then tried to tame his hair. For a few seconds he had managed to make it look nice, but after a minute it sprung back up again. He sighed and then rolled himself out of the bathroom and down the stairs, where Ron and Remus were sitting at the table. Harry rolled himself up.
"Morning, Harry," Ron said through a mouthful of eggs.
Harry grinned and replied, "Morning, sorry about last night."
"No problem. . .I like that couch a lot! And that thing about the mop put me right to sleep."
Harry gave him a quizzical look, "What mop?"
"What did Sirius call it. . .an informamercial? Something like that."
Harry laughed, "An infomercial?"
"Yeah that's it, it was the most boring thing I had ever seen! I'd of rather sat in potions with Snape!"
"I'd take the mop any day," Harry responded.
Remus laughed at this, but stopped quickly when he heard a loud sound from upstairs. "What the hell?"
He left the room quickly, Harry and Ron heard him climb the stairs. They looked at each other for a moment, and then at the ceiling when they heard a burst of laughter.
"What do you reckon is going on?" Ron asked.
"Beats me, lets go see," Harry replied eagerly. They were quickly up the stairs, peering down the hall. They heard movement in the room Harry was using so they went to see what was going on. When they reached the doorway, they first saw Remus bent over something on the floor, occasionally laughing slightly. When he heard them enter, he grinned and moved slightly so they could see what had happened. It appeared that Sirius had fallen out of bed, and not woken up because of it. Harry and Ron broke into identical grins and watched as Remus tried to get his friend off the floor. "Ron, help me," Remus said, grabbing hold of one arm. Ron walked over and grabbed the other. The two managed to get Sirius's torso onto the bed, but couldn't get him back on all the way. As he began to slide off the edge, he suddenly woke up, and with a strangled yell he fell straight to the floor. He hit the ground, still yelling, until he heard everyone break into fits of laughter. He looked around bewildered, hair tousled worse than Harry's. "What the HELL are you doing?"
Remus tried to stop laughing to explain, "You fell off the bed-tried to help you back up-didn't work too well!" That was all Remus could say. Ron was rolling on the floor, clutching his stomach he was laughing so hard, and Harry was bent over in his chair. Sirius glared at them all, but then realized the situation. He had to admit, it was pretty funny. Soon he started laughing as well. That was the good thing about Sirius, he knew how to laugh at himself. "What, Harry, did you push me off?" he asked indignantly, but with a twinkle in his eyes.
Harry would have thought up a quick remark, but was still laughing so hard at seeing Sirius scream that he couldn't respond. "It's not that funny guys!" he said.
Ron, tried to stop for a moment and sat up, "You should have seen your face-and heard you scream! It was so-funny!"
Sirius reached up to the bed and pulled off a pillow which he smacked Ron with. The only result of this was Ron laughing harder and rolling back onto the floor. Soon everyone had a pillow, and they were chaotically smashing each other with them. Feathers were flying around the room. It was a great tension reliever for all of them, after the previous night. It calmed nervous thoughts of trials and sentences. However, all good things must come to an end, so the pillow fight ended with the sound of the fireplace.
Harry groaned when he heard it, "Madam Pomfrey," he said.
"I'll get her, Sirius, can you try cleaning up the feathers? Don't let them help, she can't see the boys with wands!"
Sirius nodded and with a few swishes of the wand the feathers vanished. Harry tried to cool his nerves, and Ron tried to calm his laughter. Sirius couldn't help himself, however, and batted Ron with the pillow one more time, sending a few feathers flying, and shooting Ron into another fit of laughter.
When they heard movement at the stairs, however, they calmed down for good. Sirius sat down at the edge of the bed, in pajamas, but not caring. Ron went and sat on the windowsill, and Harry moved his chair to and fro nervously. Today was like a trial for him. One not as dire as the one Sirius would soon be facing, but important none the less. Harry was going to learn once and for all whether or not he would be walking again.
As Madam Pomfrey stepped into the room, the tension grew thick. Harry sat nervously in his chair, and Ron lost all traces of a grin. He prayed with all his might that Harry would get better. Truth was, Harry was a lot less fun when he couldn't move, not that Ron would have minded too much, but all the same.
"So Mr. I'm-always-hurt, Albus tells me you were able to move your toes?"
"Yeah," Harry replied nervously, "Twice."
"That's very good. Can you show me?" she asked kindly.
Harry looked down at his toes, and willed them to move. Everyone was watching him, adding to his anxiety. Harry was beginning to sweat as he focused all of his energy on moving his feet. He could not move them however."
Harry stopped trying when he heard someone stand up. He looked up to see Sirius walking towards him. He knelt in front of Harry's chair, "You can do it Harry, just focus, don't worry about anything, just make those toes move, I know you can do it."
Harry nodded his head in determination, and looked back down at his feet. He again set all his energy on wiggling just one toe. He gave up and took a deep breath before trying again. This time, he made his big toe move in a small circle. He looked into Sirius's face to see a proud grin staring back. "Told ya," he replied excitedly. "Think you can do more?"
Harry shrugged and tried. This time, he managed to move his right foot up and down a little on the foot rest. "Excellent, Mr. Potter," Madam Pomfrey crowed, looking amazed. Even from a tough guy like you I didn't expect to see such progress. I think we can expect a very speedy recovery from you. You should be on your feet again by the start of term. Now I beg you, do not come too dependent on this chair."
Harry grinned broadly, ecstatic about the news. He looked at everyone else in the room to see that they were just as happy, Sirius the most. Harry saw a faint trace of tears in his godfather's eyes. Sirius stood and gave Harry a hug, whispering, "I knew you had it in you, I knew it."
After they broke a part Madam Pomfrey went back from being amazed to annoying overprotective nurse. "I'm going to put you on a strict regiment Potter. Everyday you will need to do certain exercises, and experiments. I'll show you them momentarily. Aside from that, I want to see that you are eating better. You will put on at least fifteen pounds by September 1, or I'll see to it that you never leave my sight while you are at school, understood?"
Harry nodded grimly. Madam Pomfrey could really scare him at times with her intensity.
Madam Pomfrey then went on to show Harry his daily exercises. They were fairly easy, and Harry was eager to try them out and see the results. Despite the wonderful news she had everyone was happy to see her go, they all thought she took her job to the extreme, and especially for Harry, it was scary sometimes.
After she left, Remus, Ron and Harry finished their breakfast while Sirius showered and got dressed. He ate ALL of the leftovers, which could have lasted Harry the rest of the day. It was nearly 11:30 by the time he finished and Remus cleaned everything up.
"Well," Sirius said, "Ron leaves in about three hours, and we should be hearing from Dumbledore by five. . .what shall we do until the time comes?" Everyone was aware that once Ron left, the mood around the Lupin Loft would be much heavier, so they wanted to make the best of the next few hours.
"Well, it's not too nice out, so I think we're going to have to stay in here," Remus replied. They all looked out the window. The sky was gray, like it was going to rain any second, but just never seemed to. Trees were swaying hard with the wind, which howled against the house every now and then. It was the kind of day that could give you the chills even though you were inside, as it did for Ron, who shook slightly as he looked out the window.
"Can we watch more of the television?" Ron asked, looking away from the window.
Harry nodded in agreement. He didn't feel like doing anything too crazy that day. They made their way into the living room and sat in much the same way as they had done the previous night. "You want to watch a show, or a movie?"
"Movie," they all replied.
"Lets do something funny this time though,"
"Austin Powers?!" Sirius asked excitedly. "Yeah baby!"
Harry nodded enthusiastically. Dudley had been allowed to see Austin Powers International Man of Mystery, the previous summer, but Harry was not allowed to attend.
"Fine," Remus said, "Ron you're in for a real treat." Remus said this sarcastically. While he thought the movie was amusing, he never got into it nearly as much as Sirius.
Ron and Harry were both lying on the floor watching the film, and they rarely stopped laughing. Ron almost passed out he was laughing so hard when Austin was attacking one of Dr. Evil's men in the bathroom.
"Who does number two work for?" Ron repeated after it was said. He could barely get it out though, he was laughing so hard. Tears of mirth were streaming down his face. Harry, Sirius, and Remus were laughing insanely too, but not at the movie. The only thing that was really keeping them entertained was Ron's reactions to everything.
When the movie ended everyone's stomach's hurt from laughing so hard. "Can we watch that again?" Ron asked eagerly.
Harry laughed, "I don't think my stomach could handle that. . .isn't their another one coming out soon?"
Sirius nodded, "Yeah, it's called The Spy who Shagged me."
"I have got to see that!" Ron said
"Well you can't yet."
"Do you have any more funny movies?"
"Yeah, but since we had to rewind so many parts so that you could see them again we don't have time to watch one," Remus replied cheekily.
"Sorry, it was just so funny!"
"Can we at least watch a little of one,"
"Yeah, come on, please?" Harry chimed, he was getting a real kick out of seeing Ron watch these movies.
"Fine by me," Sirius replied, he was loving it just like Harry.
Remus sighed, "Fine, which one Sirius?"
"Uh. . .American Pie?"
"No, that's not happening."
"Why it's funny?"
"It's rated R. . .or your copy is x isn't it?"
"So what they can handle it,"
"No Sirius, they're not watching that,"
"Fine, how about Ferris Bueller?"
"I don't know if they'll like that, but okay."
"What do you mean they won't like that, it's a classic!"
"You know some people don't like that...James didn't."
"I think with Ron here, anyone will like this movie."
Ron grinned at this.
"Now, it's not as funny as Austin Powers, but it's really good nevertheless."
The boys nodded as Remus got up and dug the movie out. He popped it in, and they began watching Ferris Bueller.
About fifteen minutes into the movie, Ron, fascinated, said, "That's a muggle school? I want to go to one of those."
"Trust me Ron, you don't."
When three o'clock came around, they were still watching the movie, and the twins were late. Sirius and Remus shrugged and continued watching the movie. At around 3:15, the bell to the fireplace went off. Ron groaned it was an intense part, Principal Rooney was going into Ferris's house.
Remus got up, and did the fireplace drill, soon Fred came flying through the fireplace, a few moments later, George followed.
The second they stepped into the house, their identical eyes were glued to the screen. They happened to walk in just in time to see Ferris's sister kick the crap out of Rooney. Ron started laughing first, and then Fred and George followed. Soon the entire room was in an uproar. "What the bloody hell is this?" Fred asked when he was done laughing.
"It's called a movie Fred," Ron said acting like a now-it-all, though he himself hadn't known the previous night.
"What's a movie?" George asked.
Harry groaned and tried to explain it like he did to Ron.
Fred and George looked like they didn't understand, but they both nodded their heads anyway.
"Well, Ronnykins, get ready to go, we need to talk to Harry, and then need to get back."
"All my stuffs upstairs," Ron whined, not wanting to leave the movie.
"So get it!" Fred said testily. Harry had noted that the twins were both acting far more serious than he had ever seen them.
Ron looked rather frightened of them for a moment before he grudgingly got up and went towards the stairs.
"Professor Lupin..." Fred began.
"And Sirius Black, Mum tells me you're innocent, congrats on escaping by the way..." George continued seriously.
"Would you two mind if we had a word a lone with young Harry here?" Harry looked bewildered, and slightly worried.
Sirius eyeballed them suspiciously, but left the room any how. Remus soon followed, knowing full well that they were plotting to do something. Harry rolled onto his back and pushed himself into a sitting position on the floor. "What do you two want?"
"Well first, we'd like to say thanks for the money. We've invented fifteen prototypes already, and are working on a few more," George said.
"We've already had a few offers on some of them," Fred added.
"You'll be reimbursed some day, I can assure you of that." George said.
"Second," Fred said as he and George walked over and sat on either side of Harry. Fred leaned closer to him, and whispered, "We're gonna play a joke on Ron, but we need your help, just play a long okay?"
"We're just going to get him really worried, see? We've already acted like bossy jerks, and all serious you know? And I think he's already a bit scared."
"At home, when he comes out of the fireplace, we're going to tell him that Ginny's really sick. You know he acts like he doesn't like her, but he's SO protective of the girl, you'd think he was her father!"
"So when he goes to check on her, he'll be met with a load of Filibuster's, which should do well to scare the bloody hell out of him."
Harry grinned. He too had seen that although he finds her annoying at times, Ron cared A LOT about Ginny. "So what do you want me to do."
"Just act worried when he comes back down. Like we've already told you something's wrong. Sorry you won't be able to see the outcome though, it's going to be brilliant!"
Harry thought for a minute, "You should really get Sirius and Remus involved in this, they used to be the biggest pranksters, along with my dad."
Fred and George looked skeptical.
Harry laughed, "Trust me they can help."
Fred and George exchanged a look. "Well, they're probably amateurs compared to us, but we'll give it a shot," Fred said finally.
"Where are they," George asked.
"Kitchen, right through there." Harry replied pointing. George walked to the doorway and beckoned them back in.
Harry decided he should be the one to get them involved. "Fred and George are playing a prank on Ron, I though you two could help."
Sirius look changed from curiosity to glee when he heard that. "A prank! Moony, we haven't done any pranks in so long! What are you guys doing?"
Fred and George looked amazed. Fred whispered to George, "Did he just say Moony?"
Harry didn't hear Fred, and went on to describe the prank to Remus and Sirius. "You mean we don't even get to see the end result?" Sirius asked disappointed.
"No, but I'm sure Ron will tell me about it later on."
"Lets do it Moony," Sirius said, Remus nodded his head in agreement.
"Ummm...Padfoot, you look like Mr. Caring, okay? Since I know Ginny, I'll look worried, we can tell him some of that, we'll always be here for you stuff, etc...sound good boys?"
Fred and George didn't hear anything that came after Padfoot. They looked suspiciously at Harry, "Why do they keep saying Moony and Padfoot?"
Harry laughed, he had forgotten to tell them about that. "Fred, George, I'd like you to meet Moony and Padfoot."
Their identical mouths both dropped wide open. "But...teacher...no way!"
"Marauders... ...!"
Remus and Sirius laughed. "Yeah, we're the marauders, or at least what's left," Sirius replied slightly sadly. "Wait, how do you know who we are?"
"We found your map in Filch's cabinet. Found it pretty useful for our troublemaking. Then we gave it to Harry here so he could go to Hogsmead even though those blasted muggles hadn't signed his form." George explained. "Handy map that is."
Sirius nodded, "It was James idea to make that, he always had the ideas to make things easier, that invisibility cloak of his helped a lot too. I was the one who thought of all the pranks, and Moony here always thought of the best way to execute them without getting in trouble. Wormtail just tagged a long."
Everyone, including the twins turned angry at the thought of Wormtail. Fred and George obviously had been told what Peter had done, and were clever enough to put it all together that Peter was Wormtail. In an attempt to lighten the mood, Fred decided to go back to the plan. He told Remus and Sirius exactly what they had to do, which was precisely what Remus had already suggested.
They all turned when they heard Ron begin to clunk down the stairs.
"Remember the plan," Fred whispered. They all immediately put on slightly worried faces.
When Ron reached the bottom of the stairs, he looked at everyone and stopped.
"What's going on?" Ron asked tentatively.
"Nothing Ron, lets go, you've already wasted precious time." Fred said sternly.
Ron looked worried, Harry was having trouble not laughing.
"Do you have all of your things Ron?" Sirius asked in a caring voice.
Ron nodded.
"You should be on your way then," Remus added.
"Did something happen?" Ron asked, his voice shaking slightly.
"No time to talk Ron we have to go NOW!" George replied shortly. Harry marveled at what great actors they were. They were almost fooling him and he was in on the joke. "Poor Ron," he thought.
Fred grabbed Ron's bag and stepped through the fireplace. George followed, but winked at Sirius before he left, in hope that he'd remember the plan. Sirius nodded solemnly, so that it looked like a goodbye. When George was out of sight, Sirius walked towards Ron, he put a hand on each of his shoulders and looked him square in the face. "Ron, I want you to know that you can always come here if you need anything. If stuff at home becomes too much, you are always welcome here. Remember that." With that, he let his shoulders go. Remus just stood back, fake tears in his eyes.
Ron looked literally terrified. He gulped and then walked towards the fireplace. "Thank you, Harry I'll see you soon, right?"
Harry nodded, trying to look as sad and worried as the others, but finding it to be much more difficult. "Good bye Ron," he said, as solemnly as he could. Ron gulped again and then stepped into the fire mumbled something and was gone.
Harry cracked a big grin when his friend left. "I wish I could see his face after this...he's probably going to send me a howler." Harry broke off laughing. Sirius and Remus joined in.
"Those twins are pretty good, I must say," Sirius said when they finished laughing.
"They tried to send me a toilet seat once when I was in the hospital wing," Harry replied, smiling at the memory of Dumbledore telling him that.
Remus just shook his head, smiling slightly. He got up and pressed play, and they continued watching the movie. It soon became obvious that it was just not as fun without Ron around. When the movie ended, Sirius looked the opposite of what he had before the movie started. His eyes were darkened, and his skin looked pale. His hair was matted down like he had run his hands over it repeatedly, and a close look would show that he was shaking.
"Padfoot, you alright?" Remus asked taking in his friends appearance.
Sirius shook his head, "I have a really bad feeling Moony. Something's not going right!"
Harry looked worriedly at his godfather, he too had been having some bad feelings after Ron had left.
Remus was the first to speak up. "Sirius, you need to calm down. You can't run yourself down like this until you know what has happened. Okay?"
Sirius tried to nod his head, but gave up as he ran to the bathroom. The sound of him throwing up soon lofted into the living room. Remus and Harry looked grimly at each other. When Sirius came back, he was shaking harder.
"Lay down Padfoot," Remus ordered. Sirius obeyed immediately. He was sweating profusely, but his skin was cold, making him shiver. If Harry hadn't know better, he would have said Sirius had the flu.
"I'll go make you some tea," Remus said once Sirius was in place on the couch. Harry got into his chair and went and pulled a blanket out of the closet he had seen Sirius go into the previous night. He brought it over to Sirius and threw it on top of him.
"Thanks Harry," Sirius said, his teeth chattering away.
Harry made to leave, but Sirius grabbed the back of his chair, "Where are you going?"
Harry turned around, "I was going to go upstairs."
"Can you stay here?" Sirius asked. It was like he didn't want Harry to leave his sight. Harry nodded. He was only going to leave because he had thought Sirius would want to be alone. Harry locked his wheelchair in place and pulled himself out and sat on the floor, so his back was against the couch, just below Sirius. When he was settled, he felt Sirius wrap an arm protectively over Harry's chest. Harry looked up at his godfather to find that he was drifting off into sleep. "Good," thought Harry, "Maybe he'll feel better if he sleeps. However, Sirius never fully managed to get to sleep, just as he was dozing off the bell sounded from the fireplace. He nearly fell off the couch when it happened, and he tightened his arm around Harry. Remus strode into the room.
"Name please?"
It took a few seconds, but a haggard voice came through, "Albus Dumbledore."
That's all for now. Please review whether you liked it or not. I was pretty happy with the number of reviews for this chapter, but I'd love to beat that number. So if you read this chapter, please review, just to tell me that you read it! More to come soon...I'm on vacation!!!!