Harry woke up with a jump. His scar was stinging slightly and the mark on his arm had started to burn ever so slightly.
The fresh light of the dawn was creeping over the windowpane but Harry guessed that it was still early. He stumbled out of bed and slipped his dressing gown on.
Rubbing at his scar absently he crept downstairs trying not to wake anyone else.
When he entered the kitchen he found Professor Snape slumped over the table, his greasy hair was sticking out in all places and his robes were crumpled where he'd fallen asleep on them. Next to him in a similar dishevelled appearance was Harry's godfather.
Harry was about to back out of the room when he felt the mark on his arm twinge more painfully. Biting back a gasp he noticed Snape wake up abruptly and automatically grasp his own left forearm.
Harry stood still, waiting for the pain to dull down.
"Potter. You're up." Said Snape in a croaky voice.
Harry nodded but noticed that Snape's eyes flicked to the arm he was holding and had a jolt of realisation.
"Of course you're up. Come here and sit down if you want." He said rubbing his eyes.
"Okay." Said Harry quietly taking the seat next to Sirius opposite Snape.
There was a moment of silence as the pair winced in unison at the next wave of pain.
"How long will this last?" Asked Harry timidly.
"That all depends on Voldemort." Said Snape shrugging his shoulders.
"You want some tea?"
Harry nodded rubbing his scar again, which was still burning.
Snape took two cups of camomile out of the fridge and heated them with a quick charm.
"It's actually quite good for dulling the pain." Said the potions teacher yawning softly.
When he noticed that Harry was still holding his head he frowned.
"Your scar hurts as well?"
Harry nodded and clenched his fists as a stronger burning pain shot through their Dark Marks.
"The pain will increase each time until it stops altogether. Your arm will probably then remain a little sore for the rest of the day." Said Snape handing one of the cups to Harry.
The boy said nothing but sat still cradling his cup in his hands. He stared ahead with a contemplative look on his face and he was only shaken from his trancelike state when Sirius snored in his sleep next to him.
Harry looked over at his godfather and grinned.
"At least one of us is getting some sleep."
Snape sipped his tea but didn't respond feeling slightly unsure as to whether or not 'us' actually included him.
***
Dumbledore sighed deeply as he listened to Minister Fudge's indignant exclamations.
"You absolutely can't be serious Albus! You can't be even considering letting him return to classes. He should be kept well away from the innocent pupils! In fact he should be excluded entirely and sent to Azkaban!"
"Cornelius, be rational. He's confessed completely and besides, he has not committed any crime worthy of Azkaban! He even managed to curse Voldemort. if anything he's bought us some more time!" Argued Dumbledore his anger beginning to manifest itself in his speech.
"You still think that You-Know-Who has returned? I suppose it's just convenient that Harry is the only one who claims to have seen him, and now apparently he's defeated the evilest wizard ever once more! It's all in his head Albus. The boy should be in St Mungo's for Merlin's sake!"
Dumbledore stood up abruptly
"THAT IS ENOUGH! Harry is, I assure you, telling the truth. He will not be going anywhere but Hogwarts in September and you will refrain from badmouthing the boy or else you will answer to me for it! Am I making myself clear?"
Fudge had been shrinking further away from the enraged mage as Dumbledore had spoken and was now bright red.
"Now you listen to me Old Man! I am the Minister of Magic and I do not have to answer to you or to anybody. I will not be spoken to like that. If you don't tread more carefully I'll have you removed."
The injured pride of the foolish man had given him momentary bravery, but it didn't last long, and as Dumbledore left the Minister's office he knew that he's won this battle at least.
***
It had been almost half an hour now since the last time his mark or scar had burned and Harry was feeling much better. He and Snape had started talking about the invisibility potion that Harry had brewed the previous day and although they weren't exactly hitting it off, Harry was surprised and glad that Snape was at least being civil.
When Sirius finally woke up he took one look at Harry and Snape conversing normally and snorted.
"Are you alright Sirius?" Asked Harry frowning.
"Yeah, I just never thought I'd see the day that a Snape and a Potter held a normal conversation."
Harry grinned and shook his head whilst Snape rolled his eyes and stood up.
"Do excuse me." He said stiffly striding from the room.
"I wonder what's niggling him." Said Sirius sleepily.
"We've had a rather difficult and early morning actually, I don't think Snape wanted to handle being civil to a Potter AND a Sirius Black at the same time right now." Said Harry, smiling.
"Difficult?" Questioned Sirius raising an eyebrow.
"Death Eater stuff." Said Harry quietly his eyes flicking to his arm.
Sirius noticed this and nodded silently.
"So…" Said Harry trying to lighten the mood.
"Yes indeed Mr Potter. There is a lot to be done today." Said Sirius running a hand through his hair and stretching his arms out.
"There is?"
"Of course. You don't think that we'd let you get away with sleeping out the rest of the holidays did you?" Said Sirius winking.
"I guess not. So, what have you got planned?" Asked Harry.
Sirius bit his lip.
"That kind of depends on you Harry. But I think the most urgent thing is to discuss what we're going to do about Ron and Hermione."
Harry's face fell.
"You are going to have to tell them Harry. They deserve to hear it from you."
Harry nodded but didn't lift his eyes from his feet.
"Don't worry. They care about you. They will understand." Said Sirius grabbing Harry's right arm.
"And just to prove it to you I've got something to show you." Said his godfather
He felt around inside his robe pocket and pulled out a wad of letters.
They were all from Ron and Hermione.
"Go ahead and read them while I get myself woken up."
Clutching the letters tightly Harry turned and made his way back to his room.
AN – Once again I'm sorry!
It's not too short I hope. I promise to get my ass moving with this and write about R&H's reactions to Harry's Death Eater exploits.
Hope you guys liked this chapter.
Lotsa luv
Jona
xxx
Thanks to…
scorpioangel
Jivanna
vmr
Gia
ostia
Licca
Juliana Black
Prophetess of Hearts (x2!!!)
Lena (I know you said 'in your own time' but I didn't mean for it to be so long!)
Jedi Cosmos
Kit Cloudkicker
Ady
Misery Black
Sandrine Black
Soulseeker
Lin-z
daydreamer
tsunami
InsaneVampireWriter
baasheep
arwen
Christina (Please don't die!)
Animechic24
Nuts
kit
Weasleyfreak
snoopy
Kirjava
