Harry Potter and Gryffindor's Secret
Chapter 5: Harry is Home
By: Lin-z
A/N: I'm going to put all the thanks at the end this time … Sorry it took me so long to post this part, but I've been quite busy. I now hold two jobs in addition to preparing for university this summer … quite hectic! Anyhow, I will get on with the story now. Thank you ever so much for continuing to read this story!
Disclaimer: None of the recognisable characters are mine, and as I ate my candy bar, all I own now is my pillow. Please don't sue me! Now go on, read and review!
Harry was in absolute heaven as he sat astride the back of Sirius' great flying motorbike. He was flying, it was summer, he was with Sirius … The best part wasn't that he was leaving the Dursley's, either. As much as he detested them, he was able to stand them for the few months of summer holidays betwixt terms at Hogwarts. No, the best part of all this was that he was going to live with his parents' best friend. After ten years of not even knowing who his parents were and four more of hearing simply how similar he was to his father and the way in which they died, he was going to live with the person whom they trusted, and who knew them better than anyone. He smiled and closed his eyes, savouring the feeling of the cool air as it whipped past his face.
'Are you all right back there, Harry? You've been awful quiet since we left the Dursley's place,' Sirius had to raise his voice a bit in order to make himself heard over the wind that rushed past their faces.
'Yeah, of course!' Harry replied, not needing to raise his voice as he was right at Sirius' ear. 'Just thinking is all. Where is your house, anyhow?'
'It's a bit north of London, in Hertfordshire. It's actually a small wizarding village, no muggles for miles! I shouldn't think it would be too much lon- euch!' Sirius stopped in mid-sentence and started spitting, coughing and making odd choking noises.
'Sirius … Sirius! What's wrong!?' Harry was worried - Sirius was now steering the bike with one hand whilst rubbing at his mouth with the other.
'That was seriously nasty. Yuck!' Sirius spat.
'What happened?' Harry wondered.
Sirius mumbled indistinctly, but Harry could have sworn he heard the word "bug."
'Hm? What?' he asked.
'I said, I got a bug in my teeth,' Sirius scowled.
Harry started to laugh, but Sirius cut in, 'Think that's humorous, do you? I'm going to have to brush my teeth for an hour after this!'
Harry looked contrite. 'Sorry,' he said, but as soon as Sirius had his back turned again, his face cracked and he began to snigger silently.
'It's all right … I guess it was kind of funny …' Sirius said. Harry was amazed - an adult with a sense of humour?! This summer was truly going to be the best summer holiday of his entire life.
Sirius and Harry rode on in silence for another quarter of an hour before Sirius spoke again. 'We're just about there,' he said, pushing the invisibility button as they slipped easily beneath the fluffy white clouds. 'If you look down you should be able to see the village from here,' Sirius said.
Harry looked down to see a small village similar to Hogsmeade, but smaller. There was a main street, and in the very centre was a large fountain. Gathered around the street were a great deal of people, all wearing robes of varying colours. To the sides of the main street were other sub-streets. There were houses of all different types, some of wood, some of stone, some of brick. Sirius passed all this, and continued to the outskirts of the village. Harry could see fields that looked as though the crops were coming in quite nicely. Before him he saw a large, three-storey mansion. It was old, and half-covered in creeping tendrils of green ivy, giving it a very regal look. It was easily the biggest home Harry had yet seen, and spoke of old family money. To one side of the house was a large and meticulously cared-for garden.
The garden was actually more of a park, with sandy paths for walking, lush green grass, and all sorts of plants Harry had learnt about in herbology, including many he hadn't. Exotic flowered vines crept around the trellised gates, covering them with their little purple blossoms.
To the other side of the house, Harry saw something that made his jaw drop. It was a very large oval-shaped field. On either side of this field were three very tall golden posts with hoops at the top - a quidditch pitch! He could not believe his luck - he would be able to practice quidditch before the new season started at Hogwarts!
Harry was torn from his reverie by a violent thud, signifying the end of their trip on Sirius' motorbike. Harry removed Hedwig's cage from his lap and set it on the ground beside him. Sirius turned in his seat to look at Harry, who was staring in open-mouthed admiration at his new home. Sirius smiled.
'So, you like it?' Harry started a bit at being spoken to.
'Like it? No way, I love it!' Harry jumped off the back of the motorbike and picked up Hedwig's cage. 'This place is absolutely amazing, Sirius. How come you never told me about it?' he asked.
'You never asked,' Sirius replied, 'And anyhow, I wanted it to be a surprise for you when you did see it. This house has been in the Black family for generations, and as the last surviving member, it's mine!' He smiled as Harry continued to ogle at the house and the quidditch pitch in particular. 'What do you say we go in and get you settled, and then we can come back out for a game of quidditch before supper?' Sirius asked.
'That sounds great,' Harry replied, and the two of them made their way to the front of the house.
'What does that mean?' Harry asked, pointing to a brass plaque hanging over the door. There was a Latin phrase written on it, "Cave canem," but Harry, never having studied Latin, did not know what it said.
Sirius chuckled and said, 'That was an old joke of my mum's. When she found out that I became a dog in my animagus transformations, she made that and put it up there. It is, of course, Latin, and it means "Beware of the Dog," we were all thoroughly amused when she made it,' he finished.
Harry laughed, and the two of them walked up the stone steps. Sirius handed Harry a key. 'This is your key, so you can come and go as you please. Actually, you probably should not be doing too much going, circumstances being as they are, but I thought you should have a key anyhow. Go ahead, try it out!'
Harry nodded and walked up to the leaded glass door. He fit the key in the lock, and it clicked. He turned the handle, and the door swung open, revealing a grand entrance hall.
There was a great crystal chandelier suspended from the ceiling, with hundreds of tiny enchanted candles flickering behind the crystal droplets. Two rounded staircases hugged the circular outer walls, meeting at the first storey landing. Harry looked at the floor to find the entire covered in crème coloured marble. Sirius led him up the staircase to the first storey. The landing, Harry saw, was actually a library. The wall was covered in heavy old tomes, most all of them coated with a thin layer of dust from disuse. There were two mahogany study tables in the centre, with tall candles on either end. The candles were held in intricate silver candelabras that matched the dark wood perfectly. Red cushioned chairs surrounded both tables, two on each side.
'As you can tell, this is the library. To the right is the west wing, I generally don't go there, as it simply contains unused rooms. To the left is the east wing, where your room and mine are located,' Sirius explained, and led Harry to the left.
There were three doors on each side of the hallway. 'The first doors are linen cupboards. The second doors are bathrooms, the one on the left is yours, the one on the right is mine, and beyond that are our rooms,' Sirius said, pointing to each in turn, then leading Harry to the third door on the left. He swung the door forwards, and both of them stepped into what would soon become Harry's room.
The room was beyond Harry's wildest imaginings. It was very large, with a ceiling that was unbelievably high. There were splendid silver candleholders along each of the four walls, and two magnificent picture windows looked out onto the quidditch pitch and the forest beyond. The bed was larger than the one he slept in at Hogwarts, and was made from carved mahogany with a fluffy white duvet and pillows that looked like miniature clouds. There was a wardrobe on the opposite wall, and two night tables, one on each side of the bed. Harry couldn't believe that this was all for him!
'If you'll give me your trunk I'll restore it to its proper size,' Sirius said.
'Oh, right,' Harry said as he reached into his pocket and brought out his shrunken trunk.
Sirius placed it on the floor, muttered 'restoro,' and both watched as the trunk grew to resume its previous size. 'Well,' Sirius said, 'I reckon I'll leave you here to get ready while I have a go at brushing my teeth, then we can go out and toss the quaffle for a while before dinner,' he left Harry's room, grumbling about "those bloody flies."
Harry set about trying to find his Firebolt, figuring that he could take the time to unpack properly after dinner. 'Ah-ha!' he said, pulling out his broom-case with a flourish. He inspected his broom carefully, making sure nothing had happened to it since he had put it away last. Satisfied, he gave it a quick polish and walked out into the hallway to wait for Sirius. When he emerged a few moments later, carrying his own broomstick (a Nimbus 2001), the two of them made their way to the pitch, conversing in loud, happy tones.
Two hours later, Sirius and Harry were still flying around the quidditch pitch and the clouds were taking on vivid shades of pink, orange, and yellow. It was a magnificent sight to behold, the sun sinking below the trees, but the two figures soaring around on broomsticks were too self-involved to notice.
'Watch this, Sirius!' Harry shouted, as he threw the quaffle high up in the air, did a loop-the-loop, and caught it just as he pulled his broom strait.
Sirius was about to tell Harry how much he reminded him of his father, but, knowing how much he had hated being compared to his own father, thought the better of it, and said, 'That's amazing Harry! Where on Earth did you learn to fly like that?'
Harry gave a huge, lop-sided grin, and threw the ball to Sirius, saying, 'Just a little something I picked up is all.'
Sirius laughed, and did a little stunt of his own, earning applause from Harry. 'Well done, old man!'
Sirius frowned in mock anger, 'Watch it, whippersnapper! This old man could beat your socks off in a race any day!' he shouted back.
Not one to turn down a challenge, Harry pulled up alongside Sirius. 'Well, I guess we'll just have to see about that, now won't we?' he said.
'Right, on three- one, two, THREE!' They both shot forwards, laughing all the way, when a shout from below distracted them and they ended up slamming against each other.
'OUCH!' both of them yelled at the same time, clutching their arms. They looked down to see Remus Lupin at the edge of the field.
'Professor Lupin!' Harry shouted, and began a steep dive for the ground, Sirius close behind.
'Hello, Harry, how are you?' Remus asked once both of them had landed safely on the ground.
'Never better,' he said, rubbing his arm and smiling. 'How have you been, Professor?' he asked.
'Really, Harry, I'm not your professor anymore. You can call me Remus,' Lupin replied, 'and I'm doing well. It seems your godfather, however, has got a bit forgetful in his old age,' he said, turning to Sirius, who was playing along, putting on a show of using his broomstick like a walking stick.
'Sorry Remus old pal, Harry and I were a bit busy, and I completely forgot.' Sirius straitened up and shook Remus' hand. 'Good to see you,' he said.
'Yeah,' Remus said, 'It's good to see you, as well. Are you two ready for dinner?' he asked. At just that moment, Harry's stomach growled loudly, answering Remus' question. He turned a bright shade of red and smiled, failing miserably at trying to hide his embarrassment.
'I'll take that as a yes,' Sirius said, and the three of them made their way to the house for supper.
Dinner that night was a happy affair, the three of them talked and laughed loudly, thoroughly enjoying themselves. As it turned out, Remus and Sirius were very good chefs, and began to teach Harry some of the finer points of magical cooking. Harry caught on quickly, and the three of them had almost as much fun preparing the meal as consuming it. They sat around the table chatting and catching up until Remus looked at his watch. 'Good heavens, it's nearly 1.00 am! I really must be going,' he said, pushing back in his chair and standing up. They bade each other goodbye, Sirius and Harry promising to see Remus again soon. As soon as Remus was gone, Sirius and Harry dragged themselves up to their rooms. Both were utterly exhausted, and most definitely ready for bed.
'Goodnight, Harry,' Sirius said as they reached their rooms.
'g'night, Sirius,' Harry replied, and both entered their rooms. Harry vowed to unpack tomorrow, but for tonight he was simply too tired to be bothered with unpacking. He pulled out a pair of Dudley's old pyjamas, and threw them on the bed. He put his trainers on the floor beside his bed, and changed out of his sweaty clothes. Once he was finished, he pulled back the pillows, asleep almost before he even hit the bed. His last conscious thought was that he had never, in all his life, been so happy.
A/N: Hope you all enjoyed that chapter! I personally love it when Sirius and Harry are able to have fun and be happy together, hence this chapter. In response to somebody's question- Hogsmeade is the only entirely non- muggle establishment. There are other places, such as Diagon Alley, which are accessible only to magical persons, and this part of Hertfordshire is just that kind of place. And now, because you are all so amazingly wonderful and left me so many encouraging reviews, I offer big, "Texas-style" thank you's to: Itari15, kelzery, ~*Dumbledore's true Love*~, nagh (there will probably be another summer one besides this one!), Malena (you're awesome, I hope I didn't keep you waiting *too* long!), zara (thanks for the suggestions! I'll probably be choosing a definite title by the 6th or 7th chapters, I'll keep yours in mind!), Harry's Mum Lily (wow, I really love your new story and can't wait for the next chapter! I'm very glad you enjoyed mine!), Rachel, Jessie, Coqui (actually, you're on my author alert- I prefer that to favourites lists, so consider yourself a favourite!), Audiaa2 (absolutely loved your story, by the way- more good times ahead!), **special thanks goes to Giesbrecht for alerting me to a mistake with my Latin. I have changed it from cave cenam to cave canem. THANK YOU! (Latin is not my forte)** and last but certainly not least, saranth! Also to all you who are reading this for the first time, or even coming back to read chapter five, Pretty Please With a Cherry on Top don't forget to leave a REVIEW! 'Til next time,
Lin-z (who says to review