The next day was a Saturday so everyone was free from lessons. After lunch Talitha headed up to the Gryffindor common room where she found Ron, Harry, Ginny, Hermione and Neville in a quiet corner discussing what had happened the previous night. She went over and sat down next to them.
"Have you heard any more about the Death Eaters?" Ron asked. Talitha shook her head.
"Are you all ok?" she asked. They all nodded.
"Come on then" Talitha said as she stood up. "We're all going to Hogsmeade to celebrate Sirius' freedom" They all followed her out of the common room.
When they reached the Three Broomsticks pub Sirius, Remus and Dung were already there. The pub was full of Hogwarts students due to it being a Hogsmeade weekend. Remus and Sirius were sitting at a large table and Dung was at the bar.
"I'll get 'em in" Dung called over as they walked through the door. They all sat down at the table and Dung came over with six Butterbeers and four Firewhiskeys.
"Get them down ya necks then" he said.
Everyone was laughing and joking. Talitha noticed that Neville seemed more confident than usual. She had expected him to be quieter after what he had seen last night but the death of Bellatrix Lestrange seemed to have come as a relief to him.
"I'll get some more drinks" Talitha said
They went over to the bar where Madam Rosmerta served her with a smile.
"I bet you're glad to have him back" she said to Talitha as she glanced over to where Sirius was. Talitha nodded in agreement.
"I was shocked when I read the news in the Daily Prophet this morning, even more surprised when those three walked in here at lunch time" Madam Rosmerta continued. Talitha collected the drinks and returned to the table and the celebrations continued.
Talitha took the students back up to Hogwarts in time for dinner that evening, leaving Sirius, Remus and Dung in the pub.
~~~~~~~~~
Before dinner Harry went up to Talitha's office to talk to her.
"Good news Harry" she said excitedly, when he came in the door "I just spoke to Professor Dumbledore and he's agreed that you can come and live with us in the summer. You'll have somewhere you can actually call home"
"Cool" Harry replied "Erm…so where exactly will home be?"
"Good point. I don't know exactly. We talked about it the other day and we had thought of going to live at the house in Godric's Hollow but after being there last night I don't know. I've not lived there since your grandparents died when I was eighteen."
"Where did you live after that?"
"I moved in with Sirius, in his flat, which he still has but it really isn't big enough for all of us. It only has one bedroom. In any case Sirius hasn't been there since before he went to Azkaban and I've hardly been there myself, too many memories. I've just really been using it to keep all my stuff and only going back there when I needed something."
"What about Grimmauld Place?" Harry said, hoping this wouldn't be an option.
"No, definitely not. Not with Mrs. Black's portrait" Talitha laughed "Anyway Sirius would never be happy there, not after his parents and then having to stay there all of last year. No, I suppose we'll have to find somewhere new."
Harry sat in an armchair grinning, he was leaving the Dursleys!
"Talitha, why didn't you tell me that you were an Elite?"
"I couldn't Harry. The Ministry told me I couldn't tell anyone"
"Why?"
"Well, let me start at the beginning. A few months after I finished my Auror training was the night Lily and James died. The Ministry decided that it didn't look too good having me working for them when I was supposed to be getting married to the man they hand just named as Voldemort right hand man, especially as I was defending him. Mr. Crouch was in charge of Magical Law Enforcement then and he was going to sack me. Luckily for me, Alastor had been my mentor throughout my training and he stuck up for me. He told them they would be losing one of the best Aurors they would ever have if they got rid of me. Eventually they came to a compromise that I could keep my job as long as no one knew that I was still working for the Ministry and because I loved my job so much I agreed. They sent me on jobs out of the country most of the time which was fine by me because I didn't want to stay around where there was too many things to remind me of Lily, James and Sirius. So not many people know I'm still an Auror, only the other Aurors, Remus, Dumbledore and the Weasley's, oh and Dung. I suppose it doesn't matter now Sirius has been cleared though."
"So you trained to be an Auror as soon as you left Hogwarts?" Harry asked. Talitha nodded.
"Remus trained to be an Auror as well, at the same time as me. But then Crouch found out about him being a werewolf and wouldn't let him work. Until Dumbledore took him on here a few years back he didn't really have a job. He helped me out sometimes, luckily he's got his parents house so he always had somewhere to live and I always made sure he was alright for money"
"What about my dad?"
"When your dad left Hogwarts he was taken on by the Hinckley Harriers"
"He played Quidditch?"
"Yes. Unfortunately after about a year he got an injury to his arm that couldn't be mended properly so he had to give up playing professionally before he ever really made it. After that he used most of his time doing stuff for the 'Order'. His arm wasn't badly damaged but it wasn't strong enough to play Quidditch. Your mum was a healer and a good one as well. Which was fortunate with all the injuries we seemed to get from our jobs and doing stuff for the 'Order'. Sirius was a Hit Wizard with the Magical Law Enforcement Squad so he was always going to your mum to get patched up"
Harry remembered Fudge saying in the Three Broomsticks just after Sirius had escaped Azkaban that it was a squad of Hit Wizards that were sent to catch Sirius and that no one else would have stood a chance. Now he knew why.
"Do you think he'll go back to doing that now?" Harry asked
"I don't know if he would want to work for the Ministry after how they treated him and I don't know if they would want him but he did love the danger and excitement of his jobs so who knows"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Harry reached the common room to find that Ron and Hermione had already gone down to dinner but Ginny was waiting for him. He told her about going to live with Sirius and Talitha and she kissed him.
"I'm so happy for you" she told him.
"Come on" Harry said, slightly embarrassed at being kissed in front of some of the other students. He enjoyed it though. "I'm starving" He grabbed Ginny's hand and they walked down to dinner together.
"Harry, have you noticed Ron and Hermione have been spending a lot of time together?" Ginny asked him as they walked through the castle. Harry smiled.
"I have" he replied "I thought it was because I was spending so much time with Talitha and Sirius to start with. And then I thought it was because they were leaving us alone. But I've noticed now that they go off together all of the time. I think there might be something going on between them"
"I know, the only times I've seen Ron without Hermione recently is at Quidditch practice and she even came to watch them a couple of times"
They had reached the Great Hall by now and as they looked at the Gryffindor table, Ron and Hermione were sitting there together, much closer than you would normally sit next to someone. Ginny giggled
"How long do you think it'll be before they tell us?" she laughed.
"Well it's taken them at least two years to do anything about it so I think we might be in for a long wait" Harry replied. They walked over to the Gryffindor table and sat down across from Ron and Hermione.
Harry watched as Snape entered the hall and went straight over to where Talitha was talking to Charlie. Suddenly they all looked round at the Gryffindor table. Talitha's eyes darted from Ginny and Harry to Ron and Hermione and then over to Neville who was sitting a few seats down from Ron. She then looked over at the Slytherin table and her eyes scanned along the students sitting there. She spoke to Charlie and Snape. Charlie turned and walked quickly along the hall to where Harry was sitting. Harry didn't notice him as he watched Talitha and Snape almost run over to the Slytherin table.
"You five, Talitha said you're all to go straight up to the Gryffindor common room and stay there till one of us comes to fetch you" Charlie told them, hurriedly.
"But we haven't had dinner yet" Ron protested.
"Just go" Charlie insisted "This is far more important than dinner" The five students all glanced at each other and stood up to leave.
"And can you change the password for the portrait as soon as you get there Hermione and don't tell anyone what it is" Charlie added.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A/N Ha Ha another cliffie!. More later today
"Have you heard any more about the Death Eaters?" Ron asked. Talitha shook her head.
"Are you all ok?" she asked. They all nodded.
"Come on then" Talitha said as she stood up. "We're all going to Hogsmeade to celebrate Sirius' freedom" They all followed her out of the common room.
When they reached the Three Broomsticks pub Sirius, Remus and Dung were already there. The pub was full of Hogwarts students due to it being a Hogsmeade weekend. Remus and Sirius were sitting at a large table and Dung was at the bar.
"I'll get 'em in" Dung called over as they walked through the door. They all sat down at the table and Dung came over with six Butterbeers and four Firewhiskeys.
"Get them down ya necks then" he said.
Everyone was laughing and joking. Talitha noticed that Neville seemed more confident than usual. She had expected him to be quieter after what he had seen last night but the death of Bellatrix Lestrange seemed to have come as a relief to him.
"I'll get some more drinks" Talitha said
They went over to the bar where Madam Rosmerta served her with a smile.
"I bet you're glad to have him back" she said to Talitha as she glanced over to where Sirius was. Talitha nodded in agreement.
"I was shocked when I read the news in the Daily Prophet this morning, even more surprised when those three walked in here at lunch time" Madam Rosmerta continued. Talitha collected the drinks and returned to the table and the celebrations continued.
Talitha took the students back up to Hogwarts in time for dinner that evening, leaving Sirius, Remus and Dung in the pub.
~~~~~~~~~
Before dinner Harry went up to Talitha's office to talk to her.
"Good news Harry" she said excitedly, when he came in the door "I just spoke to Professor Dumbledore and he's agreed that you can come and live with us in the summer. You'll have somewhere you can actually call home"
"Cool" Harry replied "Erm…so where exactly will home be?"
"Good point. I don't know exactly. We talked about it the other day and we had thought of going to live at the house in Godric's Hollow but after being there last night I don't know. I've not lived there since your grandparents died when I was eighteen."
"Where did you live after that?"
"I moved in with Sirius, in his flat, which he still has but it really isn't big enough for all of us. It only has one bedroom. In any case Sirius hasn't been there since before he went to Azkaban and I've hardly been there myself, too many memories. I've just really been using it to keep all my stuff and only going back there when I needed something."
"What about Grimmauld Place?" Harry said, hoping this wouldn't be an option.
"No, definitely not. Not with Mrs. Black's portrait" Talitha laughed "Anyway Sirius would never be happy there, not after his parents and then having to stay there all of last year. No, I suppose we'll have to find somewhere new."
Harry sat in an armchair grinning, he was leaving the Dursleys!
"Talitha, why didn't you tell me that you were an Elite?"
"I couldn't Harry. The Ministry told me I couldn't tell anyone"
"Why?"
"Well, let me start at the beginning. A few months after I finished my Auror training was the night Lily and James died. The Ministry decided that it didn't look too good having me working for them when I was supposed to be getting married to the man they hand just named as Voldemort right hand man, especially as I was defending him. Mr. Crouch was in charge of Magical Law Enforcement then and he was going to sack me. Luckily for me, Alastor had been my mentor throughout my training and he stuck up for me. He told them they would be losing one of the best Aurors they would ever have if they got rid of me. Eventually they came to a compromise that I could keep my job as long as no one knew that I was still working for the Ministry and because I loved my job so much I agreed. They sent me on jobs out of the country most of the time which was fine by me because I didn't want to stay around where there was too many things to remind me of Lily, James and Sirius. So not many people know I'm still an Auror, only the other Aurors, Remus, Dumbledore and the Weasley's, oh and Dung. I suppose it doesn't matter now Sirius has been cleared though."
"So you trained to be an Auror as soon as you left Hogwarts?" Harry asked. Talitha nodded.
"Remus trained to be an Auror as well, at the same time as me. But then Crouch found out about him being a werewolf and wouldn't let him work. Until Dumbledore took him on here a few years back he didn't really have a job. He helped me out sometimes, luckily he's got his parents house so he always had somewhere to live and I always made sure he was alright for money"
"What about my dad?"
"When your dad left Hogwarts he was taken on by the Hinckley Harriers"
"He played Quidditch?"
"Yes. Unfortunately after about a year he got an injury to his arm that couldn't be mended properly so he had to give up playing professionally before he ever really made it. After that he used most of his time doing stuff for the 'Order'. His arm wasn't badly damaged but it wasn't strong enough to play Quidditch. Your mum was a healer and a good one as well. Which was fortunate with all the injuries we seemed to get from our jobs and doing stuff for the 'Order'. Sirius was a Hit Wizard with the Magical Law Enforcement Squad so he was always going to your mum to get patched up"
Harry remembered Fudge saying in the Three Broomsticks just after Sirius had escaped Azkaban that it was a squad of Hit Wizards that were sent to catch Sirius and that no one else would have stood a chance. Now he knew why.
"Do you think he'll go back to doing that now?" Harry asked
"I don't know if he would want to work for the Ministry after how they treated him and I don't know if they would want him but he did love the danger and excitement of his jobs so who knows"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Harry reached the common room to find that Ron and Hermione had already gone down to dinner but Ginny was waiting for him. He told her about going to live with Sirius and Talitha and she kissed him.
"I'm so happy for you" she told him.
"Come on" Harry said, slightly embarrassed at being kissed in front of some of the other students. He enjoyed it though. "I'm starving" He grabbed Ginny's hand and they walked down to dinner together.
"Harry, have you noticed Ron and Hermione have been spending a lot of time together?" Ginny asked him as they walked through the castle. Harry smiled.
"I have" he replied "I thought it was because I was spending so much time with Talitha and Sirius to start with. And then I thought it was because they were leaving us alone. But I've noticed now that they go off together all of the time. I think there might be something going on between them"
"I know, the only times I've seen Ron without Hermione recently is at Quidditch practice and she even came to watch them a couple of times"
They had reached the Great Hall by now and as they looked at the Gryffindor table, Ron and Hermione were sitting there together, much closer than you would normally sit next to someone. Ginny giggled
"How long do you think it'll be before they tell us?" she laughed.
"Well it's taken them at least two years to do anything about it so I think we might be in for a long wait" Harry replied. They walked over to the Gryffindor table and sat down across from Ron and Hermione.
Harry watched as Snape entered the hall and went straight over to where Talitha was talking to Charlie. Suddenly they all looked round at the Gryffindor table. Talitha's eyes darted from Ginny and Harry to Ron and Hermione and then over to Neville who was sitting a few seats down from Ron. She then looked over at the Slytherin table and her eyes scanned along the students sitting there. She spoke to Charlie and Snape. Charlie turned and walked quickly along the hall to where Harry was sitting. Harry didn't notice him as he watched Talitha and Snape almost run over to the Slytherin table.
"You five, Talitha said you're all to go straight up to the Gryffindor common room and stay there till one of us comes to fetch you" Charlie told them, hurriedly.
"But we haven't had dinner yet" Ron protested.
"Just go" Charlie insisted "This is far more important than dinner" The five students all glanced at each other and stood up to leave.
"And can you change the password for the portrait as soon as you get there Hermione and don't tell anyone what it is" Charlie added.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A/N Ha Ha another cliffie!. More later today