Chapter 40
Ginny was devastated, how could something like this happen! She and Colin had been studying last night and she had been overcome with depression. Ron and Hermione were both in the library, so she turned to the only other person she could confide in, Colin.
Since her first year, the two had been close friends, and before she had started dating Harry, the pair had practically inseparable. Since she and Harry had been together, their relationship had been pushed aside, but Colin was still a loyal friend and was always willing to listen to Ginny, during the months following the battle and Harry's disappearance, he had become even more important to her, but once school had started again, she had once again become too absorbed in Harry to notice Colin.
Last night though, when she had broken down, he held her close and told her repeatedly that everything was going to be ok. She had confided in him her worries that Harry would never return, and he had promised that Harry obviously loved her too much to leave her behind and it was only a matter of time until he came back. He had held her in a firm but friendly embrace until she had cried herself to sleep, and judging by what had happened, he had unintentionally fallen asleep as well.
She could understand where Harry's anger came from though, had she been the one to find him in that position, she knew that she would feel the same way, but she had to make him know that it was an accident and it meant nothing. But first she had to find him.
Once she had stopped crying in the tower, she had rushed up the stairs to her room and grabbed her cloak and wand before running from the tower in the direction of Sirius' rooms, certain that Harry had gone there, but once she arrived Russell told her otherwise.
"Ginny! What are you doing here?" he exclaimed once he had seen her tearstained face as she panted for breath.
"Please let me in, I need to speak to Harry" she panted out desperately
"I'm sorry, Ginny, but Harry is not here, I haven't seem him for many weeks now" said the painting regretfully
"He's not here?" asked Ginny in shock "What about Sirius, can I talk to him, maybe he knows where Harry went" she pleaded
"He's not here either I'm afraid, he left quite early this morning and I haven't seen him since" said the painting
"Where is he?" muttered Ginny to herself
"I don't know, but Sirius walked out wearing his cloak and I think he was putting his trunk into his pocket" said the painting, trying to be helpful
"His trunk! They're leaving again!" exclaimed the girl as tears started to run down her face again
"I'm not sure, perhaps the headmaster knows" he suggested
And without another word, Ginny spun on her heel and ran full force for the headmasters office, panting for a moment while trying to think of the password, but before she could say it, the door opened and the aged man walked out.
"Miss. Weasley, what on earth is wrong?" he asked gently as he guided the girl back into his office.
"Please, sir, can you tell me where Harry is?" she pleaded
"I'm sorry, but he and Sirius just left" said the old man "What happened?" he asked again as they entered the room, and she was surprised to see Remus sitting there
"We had a fight and he left, he was angry with me and I didn't even get a chance to explain or apologize to him" she whispered as she looked to the floor, tears still running down her cheeks "When will they be back? Can I write him a letter?" she asked
"I'm afraid that letters would not reach them where they are Ginny, and they won't return until the welcoming feast next year" said the old man as he looked at the girl in concern, but when she heard his words, she looked up to him in shock.
"He's going to be gone for that long!" she exclaimed, "Where are they, why can't I write to him, he has to know the truth!"
"I'm afraid I can't tell you this Ginny" he said sadly "Why don't you go on to breakfast, we will talk later" he told the girl, who nodded sadly before turning and leaving the two men behind
"Poor girl" said Remus finally
"Yes, it must be difficult to be so in love with the savior of the wizarding world" said Dumbledore
"Yes, but I'm sure everything will work out for them in the end, this is just one of the normal complications in every teenage relationship" said the werewolf
"Yes, but you know as well as I that nothing about Harry is normal, a normal teenager doesn't have to worry about the most evil wizard in the world taking control of them and their powers if they let emotions rule their actions" said the old man heavily and Remus nodded in agreement silently. "Now, I'll go and get your potion from Severus and you can use my fire to go to your cottage and gather your lesson plans for while you are out" said the old man as he left again.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
When Harry and Sirius arrived, they found themselves on the outskirts at the far side of Hogsmeade, in the middle of a downpour.
"Great!" yelled Sirius over the rumble of thunder "Just what I wanted, another shower!"
Harry just laughed as he pulled the hood of his cloak over his head to try and keep as dry as possible and Sirius followed his example. The pair hurried through the empty streets in the direction of the path that led toward Hogwarts in silence. When they reached the castle, Harry raised his staff and the great doors swung open and they ran inside, to be met by none other than a younger Minerva McGonagall, with her wand trained on them, who just looked them over in shock for a moment before speaking.
"Can I help you?' she asked as she cautiously lowered her wand and watched as Sirius lowered his hood and shook out his wet hair
Sirius looked over to Harry in shock, they had not discussed their reason for coming to the castle, but thankfully, Harry was quick with an answer.
"Yes, we have come to speak to the headmaster" he said, never lowering his hood
"Oh" said the woman "Am I to assume you two are the ones sent from the ministry to improve the defenses around the school?" she asked as she lowered her wand further, but she still eyed Harry and his staff wearily
"Yes, or at least that is why I am here" said Sirius "My godson will be transferring to the school for as long as I am needed"
"Very well, my name is Minerva McGonagall, I am the deputy headmistress and professor of transfiguration" she said as she extended her hand to Sirius
"I am Joseph, and this is Harry" said Sirius as he shook the woman's hand
"Pleased to meet you, why don't we go up to the headmasters office?" she suggested
Nodding, they followed her up the stairs and through the halls to the familiar statue of the gargoyle, which she leaned down to whisper the password to before leading them up the stairs and knocking on the door.
"Come in" was heard from the inside and she pushed the door open and allowed the two wet visitors to enter the office.
"Headmaster, this is the gentleman from the ministry who as sent to help you strengthen the wards around the school, Joseph." here she looked at the man, clearly wanting a last name, but Sirius interrupted her
"It is an honor to meet you sir, this is my godson Harry" he said as he shook the old mans hand
The headmaster smiled slightly at them, but he too looked at Harry curiously for a moment.
"Minerva, thank you for showing them up here, I shall see you at breakfast" he said and the woman nodded before turning and leaving the trio behind.
"Please take a seat" said Dumbledore as he seated himself back behind his large desk and Sirius and Harry seated themselves across from him "Now, there are several things I need to discuss with you before we get started" he began "Harry, will you be taking lessons while you are here?" he asked
"If it is possible, sir" answered Harry with a nod of his head
"Very well, we need to sort you into a house then" said the old man as he got to his feet, but he stopped when Sirius spoke up
"If you don't mind, sir, I would rather that Harry not be put into any certain house"
Dumbledore looked slightly shocked at this "Why not?" he asked as he looked at the two
"Well, we will only be here a matter of months at the most, and I will be needing his assistance on a regular basis, causing him to miss several lessons and I do not wish for any house to be held accountable for his absences" he explained hastily
"Do you mind if I ask how a student could be of any help with your work?" he asked in bewilderment
"Please excuse me, sir, but all I can say is that Harry is very capable of helping me in my work" he said with a small and secretive smile, and Harry himself had to hold back a spurt of laughter at seeing the headmasters face when he heard these words.
"Very well then, it is your choice, Harry can attend classes with the other students, but not as a member of any house. You can sleep in your godfathers rooms and dine at the staff table, I will explain this to the other professors" he said is resignation, but he still looked completely confused "What year are you in, Harry?" he asked finally
"I should be in seventh year, sir, but if you don't mind, I would like to join the sixth year classes, I missed the last several months of my sixth year" said Harry
"That is fine, all the houses attend classes together now since so many students have withdrawn from the school for fear of Voldemort and his followers, so lessons should not be a problem" he said as he sat once again "Harry, you may go on down to the great hall, I need to discuss a few thing with your godfather before we join you"
"Yes, sir" he said as he stood and left the office, staff in his hand, but he didn't head for the great hall, instead, he stood beside the stone gargoyle and waited for Sirius. The students were all on their way to the great hall, and he received several curious looks, but he ignored the students and instead thought of what had happened between he and Ginny. He was still angry, but now, something else was overtaking the anger, regret.
He had rushed off before he had even listened to what Ginny had to say, and he knew how much that hurt him, but he knew she was probably hurting even more. And now he was stuck here for nearly five months with no way to contact Ginny and apologize for jumping to conclusions and becoming so angry.
He knew now that she had nothing wrong, in fact, he had known it the instant he had seen her, but he had let that annoying voice make him believe that Ginny had cheated on him when he was certain that she was probably just seeking comfort from her best friend. He banged his head into the wall behind him several times in his frustration.
'How could I have let him talk me into believing that' he thought miserably 'I've probably lost Ginny for good now thanks to you Voldemort'
'Ah, but are you so sure that she was being faithful to you?' asked the voice
'Of course she was being faithful to me, I trust her' though Harry back
'But how can you be so certain?' asked the voice as it faded away
Harry ignored that particular comment and thought instead about how nice it had been to have at least two Voldemort free weeks while he was with the Dursley's. Apparently, Harry was not the only one who was completely drained after Voldemort had taken control of his body. The first two weeks after he had awoken, the cold voice had not said a word, and even now, it only said a few sentences before vanishing again. It was a comfort of sorts to discover that the evil wizard had not been able to recover his strength or powers nearly as rapidly as Harry had been able to. He closed his eyes for a moment with his head resting against the cold stone of the wall and thought about how would be best for him to convince Ginny to forgive his rash actions. Before he had been able to come up with anything though, the wall behind him moved and he spun around, reflexes taking control, and held his staff outstretched in one hand and his other palm beside it until he saw it was only the headmaster and Sirius.
"Sorry, reflex" he mumbled under his breath to the headmaster who was starring at him open mouthed.
"Harry, can I ask you where you got that impressive staff?" he asked
"My old mentor gave it to me before we came here" he replied and turned away to inform the man that he wouldn't receive a more elaborate answer
"Harry, why don't we go and get some breakfast before you head off to classes?" asked Sirius
"That sounds good to me, someone made me get up way too early this morning" he said accusingly as he smiled at his godfather
"Stop whining like a four year old" demanded Sirius
Dumbledore just smiled at the pair as he led them down the hall "Do you mind if I ask why you live with your godfather Harry?" he asked hesitantly as they walked among the throngs of students in the hallway, all looking at the headmaster and two new arrivals curiously
"Not at all, sir, my parents were killed and he now has custody of me" he explained, not wanting to go into any more detail than necessary
"I am sorry to hear that, but you seem happy with Joseph" said the headmaster and Harry had to think for a moment before he remembered that Joseph was the name Sirius had given him
"It was a long time ago, sir, I don't even remember my parents" he said with a shrug of his shoulders, but deep down he was secretly anxious to see them, but he knew he could never speak to them because, if he did so, then he would be sorely tempted to tell them the truth, not to mention he had enough on his mind at the moment without having to worry about his parents reactions to meeting their seventeen year old son from the future, though he knew it would break his heart to be so close to them and know that in only a matter of years they would die and there was nothing he could do to stop it. Sirius gave him a concerned look at this, but decided not to press the issue while in the company of the headmaster.
Just then, they had reached the large oak doors of the great hall and wordlessly, the aged headmaster pushed them open and Harry immediately heard all the voices within go quiet. Giving the two behind him an encouraging smile, the old man led them in. Harry and Sirius felt the gazes of all the students on them as they made their way up the isle, but while Sirius looked the students over and gave several friendly smiles and waves, Harry just kept his eyes trained forward, refusing to look at the students for fear of what he would do once he saw his parents, or more importantly, Peter Pettigrew. Before he knew it though, they had reached the head table and Dumbledore had turned around to address the students.
"Good morning to you all" he greeted "I trust you are ready to start yet another day" he said and was met by a chorus of tired groans, and Harry was silently amused to hear the loudest ones coming from the Gryffindor table. He shot his godfather a slightly accusing look, and the man just guiltily shrugged his shoulders in response with a half smile on his face.
"We are lucky to have two new additions to the school this morning who were sent to us by the ministry and they will be staying for a couple of months. I am pleased to introduce to you Joseph, who is here to help strengthen the protection around the school from the threat of Voldemort, and his godson Harry, who will be joining the sixth year students in their lessons. Please give them a warm welcome and make them feel at home while they are here. Now enjoy your breakfast" he concluded as he took his seat and directed Harry and Sirius to two seats at the end of the table.
Harry gratefully took his seat and propped his staff against the table between he and Sirius and took his first hesitant look around the hall. He was startled to see that none of the house tables were full, nearly a third of each table was empty, and he remembered Dumbledore saying that many of the students had left the school because of the constant threat of Voldemort and he shook his head sadly. Why did he have to ruin so many lives? And with that thought in his mind, he began to eat breakfast, full aware of the curious looks still directed toward him from the students and teachers alike, but he ignored them and turned to speak quietly to Sirius.
"Does this feel strange to you as well?" he asked as he took a sip of pumpkin juice
"You have no idea" said the older man back
"So, what are we going to be doing today?" asked Harry
"I think it would be best to go ahead and start searching for the mystery girl, and that means you get to go to lessons" taunted Sirius
"Great, I get out of them at home only to have to go to them here" mumbled Harry under his breath and Sirius chuckled at him "Are you sure you have no idea who she might be?" he asked
"Not a clue" answered Sirius
"How many sixth year girls are there anyway?" asked Harry as he surveyed the great hall
"Well, there were six in Gryffindor, and probably the same number in the other houses, so we're looking at anywhere between twenty and thirty total" said the man
Harry nearly choked on his eggs at this thought, earning himself a worried look from the professor next to him "Are you ok young man" asked a flustered looking Sprout
"Yes ma'am" replied Harry with a small smile as he turned back to Sirius and the professor continued her conversation with her other neighbor "You mean that every class has sixty students in it?" he asked in amazement "How did any of you ever learn anything?"
"Well, it wasn't only the students that left during the war, but several of the professors were called to fight as well" he began "They were forced to combine all houses for lessons because if they didn't, then there wouldn't be enough professors to teach them all, it wasn't too terribly bad, because that gave us more opportunities to pull pranks without being caught" he said with a mischievous grin on his face which Harry just rolled his eyes at in return.
When Harry noticed the other students begin to leave the hall, he turned to his godfather "Um, Sirius, what lesson do I have first?" he asked
But his question was answered by the headmaster who had walked up behind them with a smile on his face "Here you go, Harry" he said as he handed the boy a piece of parchment with his time table written on it "You can follow Miss. Stevens here to your class. Ashley, this is Harry" he said as he introduced a Ravenclaw girl with short blonde hair who gave him a welcoming smile.
"Nice to meet you, thank you, sir" he said "By Joseph, I'll see you at lunch" he said to Sirius as he followed the short girl from the room, staff in hand.
After several minutes of silent walking though, the girl spoke up hesitantly "So, what house are you in?" she asked
"Oh, my godfather didn't want me to be in any one house since we will only be here for a short time" he replied
"Oh, well, what school did you go to before" she tried again
"My godfather has been home schooling me since we are always traveling for the ministry" he said impressed with his own ability to lie so well, and by then they had reached the charms room "Thank you for showing me here" he said as they parted ways at the door, Harry taking one of the seats in the back and Ashley going to the front to sit with a pair of her housemates.
Several minutes later, he could hear a thundering of feet coming from the corridor and an instant later five very familiar looking students entered and he couldn't help but stare at them. The first was a brown haired boy who was obviously a much younger Remus Lupin. The one behind him caused Harry to tighten his grip on his staff unconsciously, as he looked at the rat like blonde boy, Peter Pettigrew. The next one had shoulder length black hair and a very scary smile on his face and Harry recognized the young and carefree face of his godfather. The last two though, who were walking hand in hand caught his attention for the longest period of time, a pretty girl with red hair and green eyes and a tall boy with messy black hair and glasses, his parents. The five went to the middle of the room and took their seats, laughing and talking the entire time, and a minute later the professor entered and the lesson began. Thankfully, the lesson was a theory lesson, and Harry was able to survey the gathered students without getting much attention drawn to him, but by the end of the day, he was no closer to discovering the answer than he had been at the beginning. The only clues that he had about the girls identity was that she had hair the same color as her grandmother, but he didn't know who that was, and that she looked remarkably like her mother, also an unknown person, so the only thing he had to go on were her eyes. This proved to make the entire situation even more complicated though. Voldemort had said that her eyes were the same color his had been before they turned red, but the only time he had ever seen Voldemort in his natural form was during his second year, inside Riddle's memory and then again in the chamber of secrets. Both times, the Slytherin was only a shadow of who he really was and appeared not in color, but in black and white. The only thing this told him was that his eyes weren't black or dark brown, but this left light brown, blue, and green, which only narrowed down his search by the smallest amount. It seemed as though every single sixth year girl had light colored eyes and he was becoming frustrated. The rest of the day passed quickly, with Harry attending potions and history of magic after lunch before following Sirius to the fourth floor and into a small chamber that would serve as their rooms while they were here.
Sighing heavily, he collapsed onto the couch.
"What's wrong, Harry?" asked Sirius as he settled on the armchair
"Just thinking about how impossible this entire thing is" he said
"What do you mean?" he asked in concern
"Sirius, we are trying to find a girl we know nothing about, who doesn't even know who she is herself" he said in exasperation
"Don't worry, Harry, we'll find her, it'll just take time" he said in reassurance
"If you say so" Harry muttered under his breath "I'm exhausted, I think I'll go to bed" he said after several moments of silence
"I won't be far behind, night Harry" said Sirius as he finished his cup of tea
"Night Sirius" said Harry as he went into the room on the left that was his. Shutting the door behind himself, he propped his staff in the corner and pulled his shrunken trunk from the pocket of his robes, and once he had restored it to its normal size, he removed a set of pajamas and changed quickly before climbing into the bed and falling into a dreamless sleep.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
A/N: Thanks for your reviews on the last chapter! I don't know when the next one will be up, I am taking finals for the next week, but I'll try to have it out this weekend. Please review this one and let me know what you think!
Ginny was devastated, how could something like this happen! She and Colin had been studying last night and she had been overcome with depression. Ron and Hermione were both in the library, so she turned to the only other person she could confide in, Colin.
Since her first year, the two had been close friends, and before she had started dating Harry, the pair had practically inseparable. Since she and Harry had been together, their relationship had been pushed aside, but Colin was still a loyal friend and was always willing to listen to Ginny, during the months following the battle and Harry's disappearance, he had become even more important to her, but once school had started again, she had once again become too absorbed in Harry to notice Colin.
Last night though, when she had broken down, he held her close and told her repeatedly that everything was going to be ok. She had confided in him her worries that Harry would never return, and he had promised that Harry obviously loved her too much to leave her behind and it was only a matter of time until he came back. He had held her in a firm but friendly embrace until she had cried herself to sleep, and judging by what had happened, he had unintentionally fallen asleep as well.
She could understand where Harry's anger came from though, had she been the one to find him in that position, she knew that she would feel the same way, but she had to make him know that it was an accident and it meant nothing. But first she had to find him.
Once she had stopped crying in the tower, she had rushed up the stairs to her room and grabbed her cloak and wand before running from the tower in the direction of Sirius' rooms, certain that Harry had gone there, but once she arrived Russell told her otherwise.
"Ginny! What are you doing here?" he exclaimed once he had seen her tearstained face as she panted for breath.
"Please let me in, I need to speak to Harry" she panted out desperately
"I'm sorry, Ginny, but Harry is not here, I haven't seem him for many weeks now" said the painting regretfully
"He's not here?" asked Ginny in shock "What about Sirius, can I talk to him, maybe he knows where Harry went" she pleaded
"He's not here either I'm afraid, he left quite early this morning and I haven't seen him since" said the painting
"Where is he?" muttered Ginny to herself
"I don't know, but Sirius walked out wearing his cloak and I think he was putting his trunk into his pocket" said the painting, trying to be helpful
"His trunk! They're leaving again!" exclaimed the girl as tears started to run down her face again
"I'm not sure, perhaps the headmaster knows" he suggested
And without another word, Ginny spun on her heel and ran full force for the headmasters office, panting for a moment while trying to think of the password, but before she could say it, the door opened and the aged man walked out.
"Miss. Weasley, what on earth is wrong?" he asked gently as he guided the girl back into his office.
"Please, sir, can you tell me where Harry is?" she pleaded
"I'm sorry, but he and Sirius just left" said the old man "What happened?" he asked again as they entered the room, and she was surprised to see Remus sitting there
"We had a fight and he left, he was angry with me and I didn't even get a chance to explain or apologize to him" she whispered as she looked to the floor, tears still running down her cheeks "When will they be back? Can I write him a letter?" she asked
"I'm afraid that letters would not reach them where they are Ginny, and they won't return until the welcoming feast next year" said the old man as he looked at the girl in concern, but when she heard his words, she looked up to him in shock.
"He's going to be gone for that long!" she exclaimed, "Where are they, why can't I write to him, he has to know the truth!"
"I'm afraid I can't tell you this Ginny" he said sadly "Why don't you go on to breakfast, we will talk later" he told the girl, who nodded sadly before turning and leaving the two men behind
"Poor girl" said Remus finally
"Yes, it must be difficult to be so in love with the savior of the wizarding world" said Dumbledore
"Yes, but I'm sure everything will work out for them in the end, this is just one of the normal complications in every teenage relationship" said the werewolf
"Yes, but you know as well as I that nothing about Harry is normal, a normal teenager doesn't have to worry about the most evil wizard in the world taking control of them and their powers if they let emotions rule their actions" said the old man heavily and Remus nodded in agreement silently. "Now, I'll go and get your potion from Severus and you can use my fire to go to your cottage and gather your lesson plans for while you are out" said the old man as he left again.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
When Harry and Sirius arrived, they found themselves on the outskirts at the far side of Hogsmeade, in the middle of a downpour.
"Great!" yelled Sirius over the rumble of thunder "Just what I wanted, another shower!"
Harry just laughed as he pulled the hood of his cloak over his head to try and keep as dry as possible and Sirius followed his example. The pair hurried through the empty streets in the direction of the path that led toward Hogwarts in silence. When they reached the castle, Harry raised his staff and the great doors swung open and they ran inside, to be met by none other than a younger Minerva McGonagall, with her wand trained on them, who just looked them over in shock for a moment before speaking.
"Can I help you?' she asked as she cautiously lowered her wand and watched as Sirius lowered his hood and shook out his wet hair
Sirius looked over to Harry in shock, they had not discussed their reason for coming to the castle, but thankfully, Harry was quick with an answer.
"Yes, we have come to speak to the headmaster" he said, never lowering his hood
"Oh" said the woman "Am I to assume you two are the ones sent from the ministry to improve the defenses around the school?" she asked as she lowered her wand further, but she still eyed Harry and his staff wearily
"Yes, or at least that is why I am here" said Sirius "My godson will be transferring to the school for as long as I am needed"
"Very well, my name is Minerva McGonagall, I am the deputy headmistress and professor of transfiguration" she said as she extended her hand to Sirius
"I am Joseph, and this is Harry" said Sirius as he shook the woman's hand
"Pleased to meet you, why don't we go up to the headmasters office?" she suggested
Nodding, they followed her up the stairs and through the halls to the familiar statue of the gargoyle, which she leaned down to whisper the password to before leading them up the stairs and knocking on the door.
"Come in" was heard from the inside and she pushed the door open and allowed the two wet visitors to enter the office.
"Headmaster, this is the gentleman from the ministry who as sent to help you strengthen the wards around the school, Joseph." here she looked at the man, clearly wanting a last name, but Sirius interrupted her
"It is an honor to meet you sir, this is my godson Harry" he said as he shook the old mans hand
The headmaster smiled slightly at them, but he too looked at Harry curiously for a moment.
"Minerva, thank you for showing them up here, I shall see you at breakfast" he said and the woman nodded before turning and leaving the trio behind.
"Please take a seat" said Dumbledore as he seated himself back behind his large desk and Sirius and Harry seated themselves across from him "Now, there are several things I need to discuss with you before we get started" he began "Harry, will you be taking lessons while you are here?" he asked
"If it is possible, sir" answered Harry with a nod of his head
"Very well, we need to sort you into a house then" said the old man as he got to his feet, but he stopped when Sirius spoke up
"If you don't mind, sir, I would rather that Harry not be put into any certain house"
Dumbledore looked slightly shocked at this "Why not?" he asked as he looked at the two
"Well, we will only be here a matter of months at the most, and I will be needing his assistance on a regular basis, causing him to miss several lessons and I do not wish for any house to be held accountable for his absences" he explained hastily
"Do you mind if I ask how a student could be of any help with your work?" he asked in bewilderment
"Please excuse me, sir, but all I can say is that Harry is very capable of helping me in my work" he said with a small and secretive smile, and Harry himself had to hold back a spurt of laughter at seeing the headmasters face when he heard these words.
"Very well then, it is your choice, Harry can attend classes with the other students, but not as a member of any house. You can sleep in your godfathers rooms and dine at the staff table, I will explain this to the other professors" he said is resignation, but he still looked completely confused "What year are you in, Harry?" he asked finally
"I should be in seventh year, sir, but if you don't mind, I would like to join the sixth year classes, I missed the last several months of my sixth year" said Harry
"That is fine, all the houses attend classes together now since so many students have withdrawn from the school for fear of Voldemort and his followers, so lessons should not be a problem" he said as he sat once again "Harry, you may go on down to the great hall, I need to discuss a few thing with your godfather before we join you"
"Yes, sir" he said as he stood and left the office, staff in his hand, but he didn't head for the great hall, instead, he stood beside the stone gargoyle and waited for Sirius. The students were all on their way to the great hall, and he received several curious looks, but he ignored the students and instead thought of what had happened between he and Ginny. He was still angry, but now, something else was overtaking the anger, regret.
He had rushed off before he had even listened to what Ginny had to say, and he knew how much that hurt him, but he knew she was probably hurting even more. And now he was stuck here for nearly five months with no way to contact Ginny and apologize for jumping to conclusions and becoming so angry.
He knew now that she had nothing wrong, in fact, he had known it the instant he had seen her, but he had let that annoying voice make him believe that Ginny had cheated on him when he was certain that she was probably just seeking comfort from her best friend. He banged his head into the wall behind him several times in his frustration.
'How could I have let him talk me into believing that' he thought miserably 'I've probably lost Ginny for good now thanks to you Voldemort'
'Ah, but are you so sure that she was being faithful to you?' asked the voice
'Of course she was being faithful to me, I trust her' though Harry back
'But how can you be so certain?' asked the voice as it faded away
Harry ignored that particular comment and thought instead about how nice it had been to have at least two Voldemort free weeks while he was with the Dursley's. Apparently, Harry was not the only one who was completely drained after Voldemort had taken control of his body. The first two weeks after he had awoken, the cold voice had not said a word, and even now, it only said a few sentences before vanishing again. It was a comfort of sorts to discover that the evil wizard had not been able to recover his strength or powers nearly as rapidly as Harry had been able to. He closed his eyes for a moment with his head resting against the cold stone of the wall and thought about how would be best for him to convince Ginny to forgive his rash actions. Before he had been able to come up with anything though, the wall behind him moved and he spun around, reflexes taking control, and held his staff outstretched in one hand and his other palm beside it until he saw it was only the headmaster and Sirius.
"Sorry, reflex" he mumbled under his breath to the headmaster who was starring at him open mouthed.
"Harry, can I ask you where you got that impressive staff?" he asked
"My old mentor gave it to me before we came here" he replied and turned away to inform the man that he wouldn't receive a more elaborate answer
"Harry, why don't we go and get some breakfast before you head off to classes?" asked Sirius
"That sounds good to me, someone made me get up way too early this morning" he said accusingly as he smiled at his godfather
"Stop whining like a four year old" demanded Sirius
Dumbledore just smiled at the pair as he led them down the hall "Do you mind if I ask why you live with your godfather Harry?" he asked hesitantly as they walked among the throngs of students in the hallway, all looking at the headmaster and two new arrivals curiously
"Not at all, sir, my parents were killed and he now has custody of me" he explained, not wanting to go into any more detail than necessary
"I am sorry to hear that, but you seem happy with Joseph" said the headmaster and Harry had to think for a moment before he remembered that Joseph was the name Sirius had given him
"It was a long time ago, sir, I don't even remember my parents" he said with a shrug of his shoulders, but deep down he was secretly anxious to see them, but he knew he could never speak to them because, if he did so, then he would be sorely tempted to tell them the truth, not to mention he had enough on his mind at the moment without having to worry about his parents reactions to meeting their seventeen year old son from the future, though he knew it would break his heart to be so close to them and know that in only a matter of years they would die and there was nothing he could do to stop it. Sirius gave him a concerned look at this, but decided not to press the issue while in the company of the headmaster.
Just then, they had reached the large oak doors of the great hall and wordlessly, the aged headmaster pushed them open and Harry immediately heard all the voices within go quiet. Giving the two behind him an encouraging smile, the old man led them in. Harry and Sirius felt the gazes of all the students on them as they made their way up the isle, but while Sirius looked the students over and gave several friendly smiles and waves, Harry just kept his eyes trained forward, refusing to look at the students for fear of what he would do once he saw his parents, or more importantly, Peter Pettigrew. Before he knew it though, they had reached the head table and Dumbledore had turned around to address the students.
"Good morning to you all" he greeted "I trust you are ready to start yet another day" he said and was met by a chorus of tired groans, and Harry was silently amused to hear the loudest ones coming from the Gryffindor table. He shot his godfather a slightly accusing look, and the man just guiltily shrugged his shoulders in response with a half smile on his face.
"We are lucky to have two new additions to the school this morning who were sent to us by the ministry and they will be staying for a couple of months. I am pleased to introduce to you Joseph, who is here to help strengthen the protection around the school from the threat of Voldemort, and his godson Harry, who will be joining the sixth year students in their lessons. Please give them a warm welcome and make them feel at home while they are here. Now enjoy your breakfast" he concluded as he took his seat and directed Harry and Sirius to two seats at the end of the table.
Harry gratefully took his seat and propped his staff against the table between he and Sirius and took his first hesitant look around the hall. He was startled to see that none of the house tables were full, nearly a third of each table was empty, and he remembered Dumbledore saying that many of the students had left the school because of the constant threat of Voldemort and he shook his head sadly. Why did he have to ruin so many lives? And with that thought in his mind, he began to eat breakfast, full aware of the curious looks still directed toward him from the students and teachers alike, but he ignored them and turned to speak quietly to Sirius.
"Does this feel strange to you as well?" he asked as he took a sip of pumpkin juice
"You have no idea" said the older man back
"So, what are we going to be doing today?" asked Harry
"I think it would be best to go ahead and start searching for the mystery girl, and that means you get to go to lessons" taunted Sirius
"Great, I get out of them at home only to have to go to them here" mumbled Harry under his breath and Sirius chuckled at him "Are you sure you have no idea who she might be?" he asked
"Not a clue" answered Sirius
"How many sixth year girls are there anyway?" asked Harry as he surveyed the great hall
"Well, there were six in Gryffindor, and probably the same number in the other houses, so we're looking at anywhere between twenty and thirty total" said the man
Harry nearly choked on his eggs at this thought, earning himself a worried look from the professor next to him "Are you ok young man" asked a flustered looking Sprout
"Yes ma'am" replied Harry with a small smile as he turned back to Sirius and the professor continued her conversation with her other neighbor "You mean that every class has sixty students in it?" he asked in amazement "How did any of you ever learn anything?"
"Well, it wasn't only the students that left during the war, but several of the professors were called to fight as well" he began "They were forced to combine all houses for lessons because if they didn't, then there wouldn't be enough professors to teach them all, it wasn't too terribly bad, because that gave us more opportunities to pull pranks without being caught" he said with a mischievous grin on his face which Harry just rolled his eyes at in return.
When Harry noticed the other students begin to leave the hall, he turned to his godfather "Um, Sirius, what lesson do I have first?" he asked
But his question was answered by the headmaster who had walked up behind them with a smile on his face "Here you go, Harry" he said as he handed the boy a piece of parchment with his time table written on it "You can follow Miss. Stevens here to your class. Ashley, this is Harry" he said as he introduced a Ravenclaw girl with short blonde hair who gave him a welcoming smile.
"Nice to meet you, thank you, sir" he said "By Joseph, I'll see you at lunch" he said to Sirius as he followed the short girl from the room, staff in hand.
After several minutes of silent walking though, the girl spoke up hesitantly "So, what house are you in?" she asked
"Oh, my godfather didn't want me to be in any one house since we will only be here for a short time" he replied
"Oh, well, what school did you go to before" she tried again
"My godfather has been home schooling me since we are always traveling for the ministry" he said impressed with his own ability to lie so well, and by then they had reached the charms room "Thank you for showing me here" he said as they parted ways at the door, Harry taking one of the seats in the back and Ashley going to the front to sit with a pair of her housemates.
Several minutes later, he could hear a thundering of feet coming from the corridor and an instant later five very familiar looking students entered and he couldn't help but stare at them. The first was a brown haired boy who was obviously a much younger Remus Lupin. The one behind him caused Harry to tighten his grip on his staff unconsciously, as he looked at the rat like blonde boy, Peter Pettigrew. The next one had shoulder length black hair and a very scary smile on his face and Harry recognized the young and carefree face of his godfather. The last two though, who were walking hand in hand caught his attention for the longest period of time, a pretty girl with red hair and green eyes and a tall boy with messy black hair and glasses, his parents. The five went to the middle of the room and took their seats, laughing and talking the entire time, and a minute later the professor entered and the lesson began. Thankfully, the lesson was a theory lesson, and Harry was able to survey the gathered students without getting much attention drawn to him, but by the end of the day, he was no closer to discovering the answer than he had been at the beginning. The only clues that he had about the girls identity was that she had hair the same color as her grandmother, but he didn't know who that was, and that she looked remarkably like her mother, also an unknown person, so the only thing he had to go on were her eyes. This proved to make the entire situation even more complicated though. Voldemort had said that her eyes were the same color his had been before they turned red, but the only time he had ever seen Voldemort in his natural form was during his second year, inside Riddle's memory and then again in the chamber of secrets. Both times, the Slytherin was only a shadow of who he really was and appeared not in color, but in black and white. The only thing this told him was that his eyes weren't black or dark brown, but this left light brown, blue, and green, which only narrowed down his search by the smallest amount. It seemed as though every single sixth year girl had light colored eyes and he was becoming frustrated. The rest of the day passed quickly, with Harry attending potions and history of magic after lunch before following Sirius to the fourth floor and into a small chamber that would serve as their rooms while they were here.
Sighing heavily, he collapsed onto the couch.
"What's wrong, Harry?" asked Sirius as he settled on the armchair
"Just thinking about how impossible this entire thing is" he said
"What do you mean?" he asked in concern
"Sirius, we are trying to find a girl we know nothing about, who doesn't even know who she is herself" he said in exasperation
"Don't worry, Harry, we'll find her, it'll just take time" he said in reassurance
"If you say so" Harry muttered under his breath "I'm exhausted, I think I'll go to bed" he said after several moments of silence
"I won't be far behind, night Harry" said Sirius as he finished his cup of tea
"Night Sirius" said Harry as he went into the room on the left that was his. Shutting the door behind himself, he propped his staff in the corner and pulled his shrunken trunk from the pocket of his robes, and once he had restored it to its normal size, he removed a set of pajamas and changed quickly before climbing into the bed and falling into a dreamless sleep.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
A/N: Thanks for your reviews on the last chapter! I don't know when the next one will be up, I am taking finals for the next week, but I'll try to have it out this weekend. Please review this one and let me know what you think!