Chapter 2: A Reunion
The summer passed without incident, until, about three weeks before Harry was going to go shopping for the school year, a knock came that caught him by surprise. He opened the door to see........a giant black dog.
"Sirius!" He yelled.
It was then that he noticed a leash leading from his neck around a corner. The holder of the leash stepped out from behind the corner.
"Lupin!" He screamed, completely overjoyed at the sight ofhis father's best friends.
"Harry, not so loud." Lupin said
"Sorry about that. What are you guys doing here?"
"Where else is he going to go?" he said, indicating Sirius.
Harry shut the door and Sirius imidiately turned to human form.
"Harry, How are you?" Sirius asked, obviously concerned
"Don't worry about me, how are you?"
"You won't believe this. Three weeks after the Triwizard incident, Wormtail showed up at the Ministry and confesed to everything he's done. I'm off the hook!"
"That's great! But, if you're off the hook, why were in dog form when came here?"
"Well, although I'm cleared by the ministry, people still don't know it, so I'm still in danger of vigilantes."
"Why hasn't anything come out in the Daily Prophet?"
"Think about it, Harry. Wormtail is celebrated as a hero, they wouldn't want to tarnish that memory. Plus, it looks pretty bad on them that they put away the wrong man for thirteen years."
"Well, I guess that makes sense."
"Harry, who's at the door?" Arabella called from the next room. But she didn't need an answer, she was already coming in anyway. "Sirius! Lupin!" She cried with almost as much excitement as Harry.
"Arabella! How are you?" Lupin said, obviously feeing left out of the previous conversation.
"Great! I'm glad you guys are okay! Sirius, congratulations on your pardon."
"Thanks, Arabella, I hope we didn't ruin your secret."He said, with a glance at Harry
"No, No, he figured that out on the first day he was here.
"He always was a smart one." Lupin said
So, after a few hours of catching up and a pleasant dinner, Harry brought up the question that had been bugging him for a while.
"So, why exactly are you here?"
"Well, Harry, That's our surprise." Said Lupin "Dumbledor received this letter and gave it to us for delivery."
He handed Harry a piece of folded parchment and Harry opened it. It was a letter from Victor Krum. He began to read.
"Dear Professor Dumbledor, I do not know how to reach Harry Potter, so I want to ask you to convey this message to him. The Quidditch World Cup is Being played in Ireland this year, and I am inviting all of the participants of the Triwizard Tournament to attend with me. We will have box seats and I will pay for Harry and the Witch or Wizard that will serve as his escort. Please tell him to respnd by owl post as soon as possible. Thank You."
"Isn't that great?" Sirius said.
"I'm going to the World Cup again? That's not just great, that's unbelievable! Which of you is taking me?"
"I am" Said Sirius "I bought a new broom a few weeks ago. You and I can go tommorow. Is that okay?"
"Are you kidding, that's fantastic! What kind of broom did you get? I hope my Firebolt didn't deplete all of your funds."
"Thanks for worrying, but no, it didn't, in fact, I got another Firebolt for myself."
"How can you afford something like that? You didn't steal it, did you?"
"O f course not. You'd be surprised how many times a man can turn himself into the authorities for money, only to be taken away in dog form a day later."
"How very clever. But you can't do that anymore now that you've been cleared, can you?"
"You don't know how many muggle authorities there are that still think I'm guilty."
"Oh, you are a sly one, aren't you?"
"I sure am. But enough about that." He said, catching Arabella's annoyed glare. "Will you be able to take your things with you? After the game, we're going to the Weasley's for the rest of the summer."
"You can help me by putting a feather-light charm on my trunk for me, after that, I can just tie it to my broom."
"Wonderful, but it's not quite time for that yet, so let's just have some fun."
So for the rest of the night, they played exploding snap and wizard chess. And when Arabella found an old muggle game called Risk, they made the game more interesting by making the pieces come to life.
"I think it's time to go to bed." Said Lupin
"You're only saying that because I just obliterated the last of your Australian stronghold." Sirius said, looking happier and more child-like than Harry had ever seen him.
"No, it's because it's half-past eleven already, and you two have got to start early tommorow."
"That's true, I guess. Harry, truce?" He said, refering to the large mass of troops on either side of the Asian border.
"Truce, Sirius. Good night, everybody."
And with that they all headed to bed, with the exception of the two girls, who had fallen asleep after the sixth game of risk.
The summer passed without incident, until, about three weeks before Harry was going to go shopping for the school year, a knock came that caught him by surprise. He opened the door to see........a giant black dog.
"Sirius!" He yelled.
It was then that he noticed a leash leading from his neck around a corner. The holder of the leash stepped out from behind the corner.
"Lupin!" He screamed, completely overjoyed at the sight ofhis father's best friends.
"Harry, not so loud." Lupin said
"Sorry about that. What are you guys doing here?"
"Where else is he going to go?" he said, indicating Sirius.
Harry shut the door and Sirius imidiately turned to human form.
"Harry, How are you?" Sirius asked, obviously concerned
"Don't worry about me, how are you?"
"You won't believe this. Three weeks after the Triwizard incident, Wormtail showed up at the Ministry and confesed to everything he's done. I'm off the hook!"
"That's great! But, if you're off the hook, why were in dog form when came here?"
"Well, although I'm cleared by the ministry, people still don't know it, so I'm still in danger of vigilantes."
"Why hasn't anything come out in the Daily Prophet?"
"Think about it, Harry. Wormtail is celebrated as a hero, they wouldn't want to tarnish that memory. Plus, it looks pretty bad on them that they put away the wrong man for thirteen years."
"Well, I guess that makes sense."
"Harry, who's at the door?" Arabella called from the next room. But she didn't need an answer, she was already coming in anyway. "Sirius! Lupin!" She cried with almost as much excitement as Harry.
"Arabella! How are you?" Lupin said, obviously feeing left out of the previous conversation.
"Great! I'm glad you guys are okay! Sirius, congratulations on your pardon."
"Thanks, Arabella, I hope we didn't ruin your secret."He said, with a glance at Harry
"No, No, he figured that out on the first day he was here.
"He always was a smart one." Lupin said
So, after a few hours of catching up and a pleasant dinner, Harry brought up the question that had been bugging him for a while.
"So, why exactly are you here?"
"Well, Harry, That's our surprise." Said Lupin "Dumbledor received this letter and gave it to us for delivery."
He handed Harry a piece of folded parchment and Harry opened it. It was a letter from Victor Krum. He began to read.
"Dear Professor Dumbledor, I do not know how to reach Harry Potter, so I want to ask you to convey this message to him. The Quidditch World Cup is Being played in Ireland this year, and I am inviting all of the participants of the Triwizard Tournament to attend with me. We will have box seats and I will pay for Harry and the Witch or Wizard that will serve as his escort. Please tell him to respnd by owl post as soon as possible. Thank You."
"Isn't that great?" Sirius said.
"I'm going to the World Cup again? That's not just great, that's unbelievable! Which of you is taking me?"
"I am" Said Sirius "I bought a new broom a few weeks ago. You and I can go tommorow. Is that okay?"
"Are you kidding, that's fantastic! What kind of broom did you get? I hope my Firebolt didn't deplete all of your funds."
"Thanks for worrying, but no, it didn't, in fact, I got another Firebolt for myself."
"How can you afford something like that? You didn't steal it, did you?"
"O f course not. You'd be surprised how many times a man can turn himself into the authorities for money, only to be taken away in dog form a day later."
"How very clever. But you can't do that anymore now that you've been cleared, can you?"
"You don't know how many muggle authorities there are that still think I'm guilty."
"Oh, you are a sly one, aren't you?"
"I sure am. But enough about that." He said, catching Arabella's annoyed glare. "Will you be able to take your things with you? After the game, we're going to the Weasley's for the rest of the summer."
"You can help me by putting a feather-light charm on my trunk for me, after that, I can just tie it to my broom."
"Wonderful, but it's not quite time for that yet, so let's just have some fun."
So for the rest of the night, they played exploding snap and wizard chess. And when Arabella found an old muggle game called Risk, they made the game more interesting by making the pieces come to life.
"I think it's time to go to bed." Said Lupin
"You're only saying that because I just obliterated the last of your Australian stronghold." Sirius said, looking happier and more child-like than Harry had ever seen him.
"No, it's because it's half-past eleven already, and you two have got to start early tommorow."
"That's true, I guess. Harry, truce?" He said, refering to the large mass of troops on either side of the Asian border.
"Truce, Sirius. Good night, everybody."
And with that they all headed to bed, with the exception of the two girls, who had fallen asleep after the sixth game of risk.
