Chapter 60
For the next two weeks, only Remus and Dumbledore saw any of Sirius, both of them coming to his room every break they had to check on Harry. The older man had not left his room since the funeral, and he had barely left Harry's side, preferring to take his meals on the nightstand, and sleeping in the chair beside the bed, but the other two men didn't blame him a bit, and if they could, they would have been with him the entire time, but that would cause too many questions, so they were forced to go on as they normally would.
Due to Sirius' absence around the school, Ron and Draco had begun to teach the dueling club that Harry had formerly headed up, and Remus had been forced to teach all of the defense classes, and because of this, he was faced with many questions from fellow professors and students alike. It was bound to happen sooner or later, but he would have preferred the confrontation with Ginny, Ron, Hermione, and Draco to have waited for a few more days, and to make it worse, Lily and the marauders were there as well since Dumbledore had not figured out how to send them home yet. It was just after dinner and Remus was leaving the great hall when he found himself literally surrounded by the five seventh years and three staff members.
"Remus, wait up!" called Ron from behind him and he turned to face them with a growing sense of dread, but he plastered a kind smile on his face when he faced them.
"What can I do for you, guys?" he asked politely, desperately wanting to make it to Sirius' room as soon as possible since he hadn't been down there since before breakfast that morning and he knew that Sirius was probably in need of a break.
"We were wondering if Sirius was all right, none of us have seen him since the funeral" said Hermione quietly, obviously, she was still taking Harry's 'death' quite hard.
He forced himself to send them all a reassuring smile "He's fine, I assure you, he just prefers to stay in his room right now, he's not ready to face the rest of the school quite yet" he lied
"Can we see him? Maybe it would help if he saw and talked to someone other than just you and the headmaster" suggested Lily hopefully
"I don't think that's such a good idea" said Remus quickly, much too quickly for their liking
"Why not?" demanded James "What are you three hiding?" he asked accusingly
"We aren't hiding anything, I just don't' think that Sirius is up for seeing anyone yet, especially anyone who was as close to Harry as you all were, it would just cause him to break down again, just give him some more time" pleaded Remus, trying his hardest to inflict as much truth into his tone as possible even though he was telling a flat out lie to their faces.
"But what if it would help us to be around someone else who was close to him?
asked Hermione tearfully "Harry was closer to Sirius than any of us except for maybe Ginny, it would do both of them good to be with each other right now, she is completely broken up by all of this" she said quietly so the other girl couldn't hear her, and Remus took this opportunity to look at the red head.
Ginny was very pale with dark circles under her eyes, as though she hadn't slept very well at all, and her normally bright and cheerful eyes were dull and listless and just seeing her brought a pang of sadness to Remus' heart "Hermione, I'm sorry, but I can't let any of you see Sirius right now, but I can assure you that everything will be all right, you just have to have hope" he said quietly to the bushy haired assistant charms professor.
"What are you talking about Remus? How can everything work out when Harry is dead? How can anything ever be right again when we killed him?" demanded Ron angrily
"Trust me" answered Remus, and before anyone could respond to him, the headmaster rounded the corner and greeted the group with a small smile.
"Good evening" he said before he turned to Remus in concern "Is everything all right? I thought you were on the way to check on Sirius" he asked
"I was just going, sir" he responded "I will see you all in the morning, have a good night and remember what I said" he told the younger group
"Would you mind if I accompanied you? I was planning on going to check on everything as well" asked the older man
"Not at all sir" he answered with a smile as the two men turned and left the entrance hall
"Well, that wasn't productive at all" grumbled the younger Sirius when they had left
"I know what you mean, it's like their trying everything they can to keep us away from Sirius" said James irritably
"Really, I think those three are up to something, why else would they refuse to let us see him?" asked Hermione as she began to pace around in small circles
"What makes you think that? Maybe he really is too upset to see anyone right now" suggested Lily
"I don't think so" said Ron with a shake of his head "I agree with Hermione, their up to something, but I have no idea what"
"Why can't you all just give it up already, Harry is dead, Sirius is breaking down, and Remus and the headmaster are just trying to keep him together, so just stop trying to change that and get on with your lives and stop trying to interfere in everyone elses!" yelled Ginny furiously before she turned and raced up the stairs toward Gryffindor tower.
"Oh Merlin, Ginny!" yelled Ron as he watched his only sister tear up the stairs
"Come on, we have to go after her!" said Hermione frantically as she ran up the stairs herself, the rest of the group hot on her heels, but their chase was stopped when they reached the girls dormitory to find that Ginny was nowhere in sight, and Harry's invisibility cloak that he had loaned her several months earlier as well as the marauders map were missing too, making it impossible to find the distraught girl and they collapsed onto the couches and chairs in the common room in silence, hoping she was all right and would come back from wherever she went soon.
When she had fled from her friends and brother, Ginny had immediately gone to the tower and took the cloak and map to be sure no one would be able to find her before slipping it on and running back out the portrait hole, hiding behind a suite of armor when her pursuers ran by her before she continued on her way toward the castle entrance, and once she reached it, she ran outside and didn't stop running until she was beside the lake where she collapsed and drew her knees to her chest as she broke down into a fit of tears for the first time since Christmas.
She cried about everything that had gone wrong in her life so far, from everything with Voldemort terrorizing the entire world, to his followers killing hundreds, to the attack on the castle, Harry's disappearance and the state he was in when he returned, to his confession about what really happened to Voldemort and all of the chaos that ensued afterward, and finally, his death, by the hands of those who were his best friends and family.
Ginny cried for several hours before she fell into a restless sleep on the cold shore of the nearly frozen lake leaning against the trunk of a large tree, the invisibility cloak still clutched tightly around her shoulders and her face stained with her tears.
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She watched herself walking around the Hogwarts grounds on a warm summer day, or perhaps it was late spring, judging by the bright green blooms on the trees, but it really didn't matter because it defiantly wasn't winter. Although she was able to see everything that was going on around her, there was no sound, everything was happening in complete silence. From her vantage point, she could see several other students milling about on the green grounds, and for a moment, she stopped to just watch them. As she glanced about her dream in curiosity, she saw five familiar figures descend from the entrance of the castle, all with smiles on their faces and laughing joyously without a care in the world, and as she watched, she saw herself smile widely and begin to walk toward the group, but suddenly, she saw someone walk from the forest clad completely in black robes with a hood hiding their face from view, and the first thought that crossed her observing mind was that it was a death eater, and defiantly a male death eater since the figure was over a head taller than herself.
She yelled loudly for her dream self to look out, but her cries went unheard, and for one panic filled moment, she feared that she was about to witness her own death, but then she became very confused when the figure walked up silently behind her dream self and wrapped his arms around her waist and she turned her head and she saw a wide smile break across her own face before she leaned back into his embrace and tilted her head up and met his in a gentle kiss before she saw her own lips forming three words she never thought she could say again 'I love you'.
Her mind was screaming frantically as she watched this, what was she seeing? Was this her future? was she meant to fall in love with another so soon? Judging by her own appearance as well as the appearances of everyone else, these events were taking place in the near future and not several years down the road. How could she betray Harry like this? How could she ever fall in love with someone else so soon after his death? How could she ever fall in love with another man period?
She was angry with herself, but she soon became angrier when she saw the dream versions of Sirius and Hermione approach them and hug the figure who was dressed in black before Ron, Draco, and Remus stepped forward and shook his hand like the best of friends. Who was this person that could so easily replace Harry in all of their lives?
She continued to watch as the group of seven all sat down around the lake, herself curling up next to the mystery guy who wrapped his arm around her shoulder, and Sirius began to unpack the baskets he and Remus had been carrying with him, revealing tons of delicious looking food before they all settled down and began to eat happily and everything began to fade form Ginny's vision and she found herself sitting alone on the shore of the lake in the snow, alone and with fresh tears running down her face.
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"What was that?" she muttered quietly to herself as she remembered the events of her dream, but try as she might, she couldn't come up with any possible explanation for her dream.
After mulling over it for several more moments and berating herself for ever thinking it possible to fall for someone else, she began to notice the cold seeping into her bones from sitting in the snow for so long and with a heavy sigh filled with depression and confusion, she stood and made her way back into the castle, guessing that it was quite late, and past curfew, but she decided against going back to the tower and instead, made her way toward the teachers wing.
Walking as silently as possible, she reached the painting that guarded Sirius' room and paused momentarily, trying in vain to remember the password, but to no avail, and about five minutes later, the portrait swung open and a very tired looking headmaster and Remus emerged from within.
"Good night, Padfoot, we'll be back in the morning" said Remus tiredly before he pushed the door closed behind him, not giving Ginny an opportunity to enter, but right now she was more concerned with the conversation the two men were having.
"Do you think he will ever wake up, Albus?" asked Remus worriedly
"All we can do is wait and see, Remus, I have no idea" answered the headmaster as he tiredly massaged his temples "How are you doing? I noticed that the full moon is only a week and a half away, Minerva said that she would take over the classes that she could, and Severus will cover the others if Sirius is still indisposed" he said thoughtfully
"Do you really think that this will continue for that much longer?" asked Remus in doubt
"I have no idea, but it best we be prepared in case it does because I seriously doubt Sirius will be up to teaching before this is all behind us" replied the headmaster
"I'm afraid I agree with you, Albus" said Remus
"Yes, well it is quite late, and breakfast is only a few hours away, perhaps we should get to sleep as well" said the old man as he tried to stifle a yawn
"Good night, Albus" said Remus as he turned and began to make his way to his own room down the hall while the headmaster went off in the direction of his office and rooms, leaving an even more confused Ginny behind.
'What in Merlin's name were they talking about? Who are they waiting for to wake up? Surely it isn't Sirius since Remus was talking to him. Who are they hiding in there?' she asked herself 'And why have they been with Sirius for nearly eight hours?', but she couldn't answer any of her questions and with another sigh, she went back in the direction of the Gryffindor tower, only now noticing how tired she was, so tired in fact that she completely forgot that she had a certain map in her pocket that would answer all of those questions for her.
When she entered Gryffindor tower, she wasn't at all surprised to find Ron, Hermione, Lily, Remus, James, Sirius, and Draco sitting around the fire, but she was happy and relieved to see that they were all sound asleep, a few even snoring lightly. Not wanting to face the wrath of her brother right now, she walked silently up the stairs, removed the cloak and changed into her night clothes before lying in her bed and falling into a deep sleep filled with the things she had seen and heard over the past twelve hours as her exhausted mind tried to make sense of it all, but with no success.
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When he had left the curious and frustrated students and young staff members in the entrance hall, Remus had walked silently with the headmaster to Sirius' room. Dumbledore said the password quietly and the two entered and went immediately into Harry's room, not surprised at all to find Sirius sitting in a chair beside the bed with a book in his hands, sound asleep. Harry was in the same position he had been in for the past two weeks, lying on his back with his arms beside him and the covers pulled up to his chest, still completely out of it. As Remus looked at the famous boy on the bed, he couldn't help but notice that his face wasn't quite as pale as he remembered, making him look slightly more lifelike than it had looked before, renewing some of his hope that everything would work out for the best.
With a small grim on his face, he gently placed a hand on Sirius' shoulder to rouse the other man, who jumped up quickly and looked to Harry almost frantically, and upon seeing him still sleeping peacefully turned to face his best friend.
"What time is it?" he asked groggily
"Seven-thirty, just after dinner" answered the headmaster with a smile "How is he tonight?" he asked as he looked at Harry
"The same" muttered Sirius quietly "How is everyone else doing?"
"Not much better than before, I'm afraid. They really want to see you, you know. They're worried about you and think that it would help if you saw someone other than us" said Remus with a small smile on his face
"What, do they think you're not good company or something?" joked Sirius before he became serious again "When can we tell them the truth?" he asked the headmaster
"When Harry wakes up and we figure out exactly what happened and make sure that it is indeed himself who is in control of his actions and not Voldemort" answered Dumbledore
"But if you-know-who were in control, wouldn't the dark mark still be on his arm?" asked Remus
"Probably, but I'm still not a hundred percent positive, and until we have all of the answers, I don't want to risk anyone else finding out" sad the headmaster for the hundredth time since they discovered that Harry was indeed alive
Neither of the men argued with him, as usual, and Remus and Dumbledore managed to coax Sirius to come to the living room where Dumbledore conjured up some dinner for the exhausted man. The three talked for a some time before Remus told Sirius that they would sit with Harry so he could get cleaned up and catch a couple of hours of sleep, which Sirius reluctantly agreed to since there was no way he could argue with both of the men. It was nearly three in the morning when he awoke again and went to relieve Remus and Dumbledore who bid him goodnight and left for their own rooms with promises to return before breakfast.
Sirius settled once again in his customary place and picked up the book he had been reading before he dozed off earlier that night and began to read again, becoming so absorbed in his reading that he dropped the book when he heard the sound of a faint moan coming from the bed in front of him. Frantically, he jumped to his feet and rushed to the side of his godson's bed.
Harry was moaning softly and he looked like he was fighting the unconsciousness that had overtaken him, and gently, Sirius took his hand in his own "Harry?" he asked quietly, and after several long agonizing minutes, the bright emerald eyes were forced open and they focused blearily on Sirius' own pale blue, tear filled eyes. "Harry, can you hear me?" he asked worriedly, and much to his relief, Harry wearily nodded his head before he shakily raised his hand to his throat.
"Water" he croaked out in a cracking voice and with a wave of his wand, Sirius had conjured a glass and with one arm behind his godson's shoulders to support him, he put the goblet to his lips and he greedily swallowed the entire thing before Sirius laid him back down "Thanks, Sirius" he said quietly with a small smile
"Oh God Harry, I can't believe you are really here!" exclaimed Sirius as he gave his godson a gentle hug.
"Me neither, Sirius" said Harry as he weakly returned the gesture of affection.
After several moments, Sirius released him and sat down on the side of the bed "How are you feeling?" he asked in concern
"Not too bad, considering, just extremely tired" answered Harry truthfully, some of his energy returning to him the longer he stayed awake
"Good, now tell me what in the bloody hell happened?" he demanded
"What are you talking about?" asked Harry in bewilderment
"Well, let's see here, you were DEAD for five days, as in not breathing with absolutely no heartbeat, as in we had planned your funeral, and now, you're obviously alive, now what happened?"
"Oh" said Harry quietly "Was I really dead?" he asked in amazement
"Quite" answered Sirius with a brisk nod of his head
"Oh" repeated Harry
"Well, are you going to tell me how this happened?" asked Sirius when Harry said nothing more
"To tell you the truth, I have no idea. I remember being somewhere with my parents for a while, then Voldemort came and we dueled, and I guess I won, then I remember a feeling like I was being pulled somewhere, then I woke up here" he said with a shrug of his shoulders "I have no idea how it happened though, but my mother did say that it wasn't my time yet and that there was some way that I could come back, I guess that was what she was thinking of" he said more to himself than anything
"Can you answer this for me? Is you-know-who still inside of you?" asked Sirius hesitantly, and he let out a sigh of relief when he saw Harry's face break into a wide grin
"Nope, it's just me in here now!" he said happily before his expression fell abruptly "Where is Ginny and everyone else? I thought they would refuse to leave here" and Sirius began to shift uncomfortably on the bed
"Well, they don't know that you are alive, only Remus, Dumbledore, and myself know. We didn't want to tell anyone else until we were sire it was you in control and not you-know-who" he explained almost guiltily
"Wait, didn't the fact that you cancelled the funeral give it away?" asked Harry in confusion
"Not quite, we still had the funeral so that no one would become suspicious" he said quietly
"So everyone thinks I'm still dead?" he asked in shock "Even Ginny, and Ron, and Hermione?"
"I'm afraid so" said Sirius regretfully and Harry slumped back into the bed with a heavy sigh
"Well this is going to take some explaining" he muttered under his breath, causing Sirius to begin to chuckle from beside him
"So, you have no idea how you came back to life" he said as way of clarification and when Harry nodded he continued "Do you remember anything about Terres from the time you were, well, dead?" he asked
"No, why do you ask?" answered Harry
"Look at your arm, we saw it when we first brought you here" said Sirius with a smile
Curious, Harry rolled up the sleeve to his pajamas and looked to his arm, expecting to see the dark mark, but instead, he saw image of his guardian tattooed there instead, solid gold with her wings outstretched in flight, causing his eyes to go wide as he looked first to Sirius and then to Terres who was still perched on his bedpost.
'Don't look so shocked, my child' said the phoenix with a small chuckle in her voice
'Terres, what happened?' he asked in bewilderment
'No one who is so pure should be branded by something so dark' answered the golden bird mysteriously before spreading her wings and setting off toward the window
'Where are you going?' asked Harry in bewilderment
'Do not fear, my child, I will be watching out for you, and I will return when the need arises. Your battle is over for now, you are now able to live your life like you deserve and desire' she answered and she began to sing her wonderful melody as she flew out the window, and slowly she and her song faded away and only then did Harry turn back to his godfather.
"Is everything ok, Harry?" he asked in concern
"Perfect, Sirius" responded Harry tiredly "So how long have I been 'dead' for?" he asked in an attempt to distract the older man
"Well, today is January 15th, so just over three weeks now" answered Sirius, and Harry moaned loudly
"This is really going to take some explaining" he muttered again
"That can wait until tomorrow though, when you are strong enough to get out of bed. Go to sleep now, it's late, tomorrow you can go and find Ginny and your friends" he said sternly, but Harry had one more question
"Are my parents still here?"
"Yes, Albus hasn't been able to find a way to send them back yet, so you can speak to them too in the morning" he said "Now, go to sleep" he ordered
"All right, good night Sirius" he said as he burrowed into his blankets and fell immediately to sleep, and with a smile on his face Sirius left the room and fell asleep himself on the couch, not wanting to be any further away than that from his godson in case he needed anything and feeling better than he had in quite some time.
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A/N: All right, almost the end here, hope you all enjoyed this chapter, the final one won't be up until the weekend since it's spring break, sorry, but a little good news, for me at least, I just bought a horse! I'm kind of excited about it, she's a yearling tobiano paint filly, and for those of you who have no idea what that is, she's completely white with a brown head, a little brown on her hind quarters, black tail, and black and white mane, I named her Meeka. Ok, enough of that, please review this chapter and I'll get the last one posted as soon as possible, also, if you have any ideas or suggestions about a sequel or another story I can write, let me know in a review, I have a few myself, but nothing concrete yet. Review, please!
For the next two weeks, only Remus and Dumbledore saw any of Sirius, both of them coming to his room every break they had to check on Harry. The older man had not left his room since the funeral, and he had barely left Harry's side, preferring to take his meals on the nightstand, and sleeping in the chair beside the bed, but the other two men didn't blame him a bit, and if they could, they would have been with him the entire time, but that would cause too many questions, so they were forced to go on as they normally would.
Due to Sirius' absence around the school, Ron and Draco had begun to teach the dueling club that Harry had formerly headed up, and Remus had been forced to teach all of the defense classes, and because of this, he was faced with many questions from fellow professors and students alike. It was bound to happen sooner or later, but he would have preferred the confrontation with Ginny, Ron, Hermione, and Draco to have waited for a few more days, and to make it worse, Lily and the marauders were there as well since Dumbledore had not figured out how to send them home yet. It was just after dinner and Remus was leaving the great hall when he found himself literally surrounded by the five seventh years and three staff members.
"Remus, wait up!" called Ron from behind him and he turned to face them with a growing sense of dread, but he plastered a kind smile on his face when he faced them.
"What can I do for you, guys?" he asked politely, desperately wanting to make it to Sirius' room as soon as possible since he hadn't been down there since before breakfast that morning and he knew that Sirius was probably in need of a break.
"We were wondering if Sirius was all right, none of us have seen him since the funeral" said Hermione quietly, obviously, she was still taking Harry's 'death' quite hard.
He forced himself to send them all a reassuring smile "He's fine, I assure you, he just prefers to stay in his room right now, he's not ready to face the rest of the school quite yet" he lied
"Can we see him? Maybe it would help if he saw and talked to someone other than just you and the headmaster" suggested Lily hopefully
"I don't think that's such a good idea" said Remus quickly, much too quickly for their liking
"Why not?" demanded James "What are you three hiding?" he asked accusingly
"We aren't hiding anything, I just don't' think that Sirius is up for seeing anyone yet, especially anyone who was as close to Harry as you all were, it would just cause him to break down again, just give him some more time" pleaded Remus, trying his hardest to inflict as much truth into his tone as possible even though he was telling a flat out lie to their faces.
"But what if it would help us to be around someone else who was close to him?
asked Hermione tearfully "Harry was closer to Sirius than any of us except for maybe Ginny, it would do both of them good to be with each other right now, she is completely broken up by all of this" she said quietly so the other girl couldn't hear her, and Remus took this opportunity to look at the red head.
Ginny was very pale with dark circles under her eyes, as though she hadn't slept very well at all, and her normally bright and cheerful eyes were dull and listless and just seeing her brought a pang of sadness to Remus' heart "Hermione, I'm sorry, but I can't let any of you see Sirius right now, but I can assure you that everything will be all right, you just have to have hope" he said quietly to the bushy haired assistant charms professor.
"What are you talking about Remus? How can everything work out when Harry is dead? How can anything ever be right again when we killed him?" demanded Ron angrily
"Trust me" answered Remus, and before anyone could respond to him, the headmaster rounded the corner and greeted the group with a small smile.
"Good evening" he said before he turned to Remus in concern "Is everything all right? I thought you were on the way to check on Sirius" he asked
"I was just going, sir" he responded "I will see you all in the morning, have a good night and remember what I said" he told the younger group
"Would you mind if I accompanied you? I was planning on going to check on everything as well" asked the older man
"Not at all sir" he answered with a smile as the two men turned and left the entrance hall
"Well, that wasn't productive at all" grumbled the younger Sirius when they had left
"I know what you mean, it's like their trying everything they can to keep us away from Sirius" said James irritably
"Really, I think those three are up to something, why else would they refuse to let us see him?" asked Hermione as she began to pace around in small circles
"What makes you think that? Maybe he really is too upset to see anyone right now" suggested Lily
"I don't think so" said Ron with a shake of his head "I agree with Hermione, their up to something, but I have no idea what"
"Why can't you all just give it up already, Harry is dead, Sirius is breaking down, and Remus and the headmaster are just trying to keep him together, so just stop trying to change that and get on with your lives and stop trying to interfere in everyone elses!" yelled Ginny furiously before she turned and raced up the stairs toward Gryffindor tower.
"Oh Merlin, Ginny!" yelled Ron as he watched his only sister tear up the stairs
"Come on, we have to go after her!" said Hermione frantically as she ran up the stairs herself, the rest of the group hot on her heels, but their chase was stopped when they reached the girls dormitory to find that Ginny was nowhere in sight, and Harry's invisibility cloak that he had loaned her several months earlier as well as the marauders map were missing too, making it impossible to find the distraught girl and they collapsed onto the couches and chairs in the common room in silence, hoping she was all right and would come back from wherever she went soon.
When she had fled from her friends and brother, Ginny had immediately gone to the tower and took the cloak and map to be sure no one would be able to find her before slipping it on and running back out the portrait hole, hiding behind a suite of armor when her pursuers ran by her before she continued on her way toward the castle entrance, and once she reached it, she ran outside and didn't stop running until she was beside the lake where she collapsed and drew her knees to her chest as she broke down into a fit of tears for the first time since Christmas.
She cried about everything that had gone wrong in her life so far, from everything with Voldemort terrorizing the entire world, to his followers killing hundreds, to the attack on the castle, Harry's disappearance and the state he was in when he returned, to his confession about what really happened to Voldemort and all of the chaos that ensued afterward, and finally, his death, by the hands of those who were his best friends and family.
Ginny cried for several hours before she fell into a restless sleep on the cold shore of the nearly frozen lake leaning against the trunk of a large tree, the invisibility cloak still clutched tightly around her shoulders and her face stained with her tears.
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She watched herself walking around the Hogwarts grounds on a warm summer day, or perhaps it was late spring, judging by the bright green blooms on the trees, but it really didn't matter because it defiantly wasn't winter. Although she was able to see everything that was going on around her, there was no sound, everything was happening in complete silence. From her vantage point, she could see several other students milling about on the green grounds, and for a moment, she stopped to just watch them. As she glanced about her dream in curiosity, she saw five familiar figures descend from the entrance of the castle, all with smiles on their faces and laughing joyously without a care in the world, and as she watched, she saw herself smile widely and begin to walk toward the group, but suddenly, she saw someone walk from the forest clad completely in black robes with a hood hiding their face from view, and the first thought that crossed her observing mind was that it was a death eater, and defiantly a male death eater since the figure was over a head taller than herself.
She yelled loudly for her dream self to look out, but her cries went unheard, and for one panic filled moment, she feared that she was about to witness her own death, but then she became very confused when the figure walked up silently behind her dream self and wrapped his arms around her waist and she turned her head and she saw a wide smile break across her own face before she leaned back into his embrace and tilted her head up and met his in a gentle kiss before she saw her own lips forming three words she never thought she could say again 'I love you'.
Her mind was screaming frantically as she watched this, what was she seeing? Was this her future? was she meant to fall in love with another so soon? Judging by her own appearance as well as the appearances of everyone else, these events were taking place in the near future and not several years down the road. How could she betray Harry like this? How could she ever fall in love with someone else so soon after his death? How could she ever fall in love with another man period?
She was angry with herself, but she soon became angrier when she saw the dream versions of Sirius and Hermione approach them and hug the figure who was dressed in black before Ron, Draco, and Remus stepped forward and shook his hand like the best of friends. Who was this person that could so easily replace Harry in all of their lives?
She continued to watch as the group of seven all sat down around the lake, herself curling up next to the mystery guy who wrapped his arm around her shoulder, and Sirius began to unpack the baskets he and Remus had been carrying with him, revealing tons of delicious looking food before they all settled down and began to eat happily and everything began to fade form Ginny's vision and she found herself sitting alone on the shore of the lake in the snow, alone and with fresh tears running down her face.
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"What was that?" she muttered quietly to herself as she remembered the events of her dream, but try as she might, she couldn't come up with any possible explanation for her dream.
After mulling over it for several more moments and berating herself for ever thinking it possible to fall for someone else, she began to notice the cold seeping into her bones from sitting in the snow for so long and with a heavy sigh filled with depression and confusion, she stood and made her way back into the castle, guessing that it was quite late, and past curfew, but she decided against going back to the tower and instead, made her way toward the teachers wing.
Walking as silently as possible, she reached the painting that guarded Sirius' room and paused momentarily, trying in vain to remember the password, but to no avail, and about five minutes later, the portrait swung open and a very tired looking headmaster and Remus emerged from within.
"Good night, Padfoot, we'll be back in the morning" said Remus tiredly before he pushed the door closed behind him, not giving Ginny an opportunity to enter, but right now she was more concerned with the conversation the two men were having.
"Do you think he will ever wake up, Albus?" asked Remus worriedly
"All we can do is wait and see, Remus, I have no idea" answered the headmaster as he tiredly massaged his temples "How are you doing? I noticed that the full moon is only a week and a half away, Minerva said that she would take over the classes that she could, and Severus will cover the others if Sirius is still indisposed" he said thoughtfully
"Do you really think that this will continue for that much longer?" asked Remus in doubt
"I have no idea, but it best we be prepared in case it does because I seriously doubt Sirius will be up to teaching before this is all behind us" replied the headmaster
"I'm afraid I agree with you, Albus" said Remus
"Yes, well it is quite late, and breakfast is only a few hours away, perhaps we should get to sleep as well" said the old man as he tried to stifle a yawn
"Good night, Albus" said Remus as he turned and began to make his way to his own room down the hall while the headmaster went off in the direction of his office and rooms, leaving an even more confused Ginny behind.
'What in Merlin's name were they talking about? Who are they waiting for to wake up? Surely it isn't Sirius since Remus was talking to him. Who are they hiding in there?' she asked herself 'And why have they been with Sirius for nearly eight hours?', but she couldn't answer any of her questions and with another sigh, she went back in the direction of the Gryffindor tower, only now noticing how tired she was, so tired in fact that she completely forgot that she had a certain map in her pocket that would answer all of those questions for her.
When she entered Gryffindor tower, she wasn't at all surprised to find Ron, Hermione, Lily, Remus, James, Sirius, and Draco sitting around the fire, but she was happy and relieved to see that they were all sound asleep, a few even snoring lightly. Not wanting to face the wrath of her brother right now, she walked silently up the stairs, removed the cloak and changed into her night clothes before lying in her bed and falling into a deep sleep filled with the things she had seen and heard over the past twelve hours as her exhausted mind tried to make sense of it all, but with no success.
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When he had left the curious and frustrated students and young staff members in the entrance hall, Remus had walked silently with the headmaster to Sirius' room. Dumbledore said the password quietly and the two entered and went immediately into Harry's room, not surprised at all to find Sirius sitting in a chair beside the bed with a book in his hands, sound asleep. Harry was in the same position he had been in for the past two weeks, lying on his back with his arms beside him and the covers pulled up to his chest, still completely out of it. As Remus looked at the famous boy on the bed, he couldn't help but notice that his face wasn't quite as pale as he remembered, making him look slightly more lifelike than it had looked before, renewing some of his hope that everything would work out for the best.
With a small grim on his face, he gently placed a hand on Sirius' shoulder to rouse the other man, who jumped up quickly and looked to Harry almost frantically, and upon seeing him still sleeping peacefully turned to face his best friend.
"What time is it?" he asked groggily
"Seven-thirty, just after dinner" answered the headmaster with a smile "How is he tonight?" he asked as he looked at Harry
"The same" muttered Sirius quietly "How is everyone else doing?"
"Not much better than before, I'm afraid. They really want to see you, you know. They're worried about you and think that it would help if you saw someone other than us" said Remus with a small smile on his face
"What, do they think you're not good company or something?" joked Sirius before he became serious again "When can we tell them the truth?" he asked the headmaster
"When Harry wakes up and we figure out exactly what happened and make sure that it is indeed himself who is in control of his actions and not Voldemort" answered Dumbledore
"But if you-know-who were in control, wouldn't the dark mark still be on his arm?" asked Remus
"Probably, but I'm still not a hundred percent positive, and until we have all of the answers, I don't want to risk anyone else finding out" sad the headmaster for the hundredth time since they discovered that Harry was indeed alive
Neither of the men argued with him, as usual, and Remus and Dumbledore managed to coax Sirius to come to the living room where Dumbledore conjured up some dinner for the exhausted man. The three talked for a some time before Remus told Sirius that they would sit with Harry so he could get cleaned up and catch a couple of hours of sleep, which Sirius reluctantly agreed to since there was no way he could argue with both of the men. It was nearly three in the morning when he awoke again and went to relieve Remus and Dumbledore who bid him goodnight and left for their own rooms with promises to return before breakfast.
Sirius settled once again in his customary place and picked up the book he had been reading before he dozed off earlier that night and began to read again, becoming so absorbed in his reading that he dropped the book when he heard the sound of a faint moan coming from the bed in front of him. Frantically, he jumped to his feet and rushed to the side of his godson's bed.
Harry was moaning softly and he looked like he was fighting the unconsciousness that had overtaken him, and gently, Sirius took his hand in his own "Harry?" he asked quietly, and after several long agonizing minutes, the bright emerald eyes were forced open and they focused blearily on Sirius' own pale blue, tear filled eyes. "Harry, can you hear me?" he asked worriedly, and much to his relief, Harry wearily nodded his head before he shakily raised his hand to his throat.
"Water" he croaked out in a cracking voice and with a wave of his wand, Sirius had conjured a glass and with one arm behind his godson's shoulders to support him, he put the goblet to his lips and he greedily swallowed the entire thing before Sirius laid him back down "Thanks, Sirius" he said quietly with a small smile
"Oh God Harry, I can't believe you are really here!" exclaimed Sirius as he gave his godson a gentle hug.
"Me neither, Sirius" said Harry as he weakly returned the gesture of affection.
After several moments, Sirius released him and sat down on the side of the bed "How are you feeling?" he asked in concern
"Not too bad, considering, just extremely tired" answered Harry truthfully, some of his energy returning to him the longer he stayed awake
"Good, now tell me what in the bloody hell happened?" he demanded
"What are you talking about?" asked Harry in bewilderment
"Well, let's see here, you were DEAD for five days, as in not breathing with absolutely no heartbeat, as in we had planned your funeral, and now, you're obviously alive, now what happened?"
"Oh" said Harry quietly "Was I really dead?" he asked in amazement
"Quite" answered Sirius with a brisk nod of his head
"Oh" repeated Harry
"Well, are you going to tell me how this happened?" asked Sirius when Harry said nothing more
"To tell you the truth, I have no idea. I remember being somewhere with my parents for a while, then Voldemort came and we dueled, and I guess I won, then I remember a feeling like I was being pulled somewhere, then I woke up here" he said with a shrug of his shoulders "I have no idea how it happened though, but my mother did say that it wasn't my time yet and that there was some way that I could come back, I guess that was what she was thinking of" he said more to himself than anything
"Can you answer this for me? Is you-know-who still inside of you?" asked Sirius hesitantly, and he let out a sigh of relief when he saw Harry's face break into a wide grin
"Nope, it's just me in here now!" he said happily before his expression fell abruptly "Where is Ginny and everyone else? I thought they would refuse to leave here" and Sirius began to shift uncomfortably on the bed
"Well, they don't know that you are alive, only Remus, Dumbledore, and myself know. We didn't want to tell anyone else until we were sire it was you in control and not you-know-who" he explained almost guiltily
"Wait, didn't the fact that you cancelled the funeral give it away?" asked Harry in confusion
"Not quite, we still had the funeral so that no one would become suspicious" he said quietly
"So everyone thinks I'm still dead?" he asked in shock "Even Ginny, and Ron, and Hermione?"
"I'm afraid so" said Sirius regretfully and Harry slumped back into the bed with a heavy sigh
"Well this is going to take some explaining" he muttered under his breath, causing Sirius to begin to chuckle from beside him
"So, you have no idea how you came back to life" he said as way of clarification and when Harry nodded he continued "Do you remember anything about Terres from the time you were, well, dead?" he asked
"No, why do you ask?" answered Harry
"Look at your arm, we saw it when we first brought you here" said Sirius with a smile
Curious, Harry rolled up the sleeve to his pajamas and looked to his arm, expecting to see the dark mark, but instead, he saw image of his guardian tattooed there instead, solid gold with her wings outstretched in flight, causing his eyes to go wide as he looked first to Sirius and then to Terres who was still perched on his bedpost.
'Don't look so shocked, my child' said the phoenix with a small chuckle in her voice
'Terres, what happened?' he asked in bewilderment
'No one who is so pure should be branded by something so dark' answered the golden bird mysteriously before spreading her wings and setting off toward the window
'Where are you going?' asked Harry in bewilderment
'Do not fear, my child, I will be watching out for you, and I will return when the need arises. Your battle is over for now, you are now able to live your life like you deserve and desire' she answered and she began to sing her wonderful melody as she flew out the window, and slowly she and her song faded away and only then did Harry turn back to his godfather.
"Is everything ok, Harry?" he asked in concern
"Perfect, Sirius" responded Harry tiredly "So how long have I been 'dead' for?" he asked in an attempt to distract the older man
"Well, today is January 15th, so just over three weeks now" answered Sirius, and Harry moaned loudly
"This is really going to take some explaining" he muttered again
"That can wait until tomorrow though, when you are strong enough to get out of bed. Go to sleep now, it's late, tomorrow you can go and find Ginny and your friends" he said sternly, but Harry had one more question
"Are my parents still here?"
"Yes, Albus hasn't been able to find a way to send them back yet, so you can speak to them too in the morning" he said "Now, go to sleep" he ordered
"All right, good night Sirius" he said as he burrowed into his blankets and fell immediately to sleep, and with a smile on his face Sirius left the room and fell asleep himself on the couch, not wanting to be any further away than that from his godson in case he needed anything and feeling better than he had in quite some time.
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A/N: All right, almost the end here, hope you all enjoyed this chapter, the final one won't be up until the weekend since it's spring break, sorry, but a little good news, for me at least, I just bought a horse! I'm kind of excited about it, she's a yearling tobiano paint filly, and for those of you who have no idea what that is, she's completely white with a brown head, a little brown on her hind quarters, black tail, and black and white mane, I named her Meeka. Ok, enough of that, please review this chapter and I'll get the last one posted as soon as possible, also, if you have any ideas or suggestions about a sequel or another story I can write, let me know in a review, I have a few myself, but nothing concrete yet. Review, please!