Disclaimer: Two reasons I don't own Harry Potter or anything associated with it-1) Would I really be writing fanfiction if I owned the original story? And 2) Since the author and owner of Harry Potter is J.K. Rowling, and seeing that I'm not J.K. Rowling, then I'm not the author and I don't own Harry Potter!
And...I couldn't make a profit off of any of my fanfiction stories, even if I wanted to!


A/N: You guys are really lucky that I was able to write this chapter before I go away-I wrote this all in one day under the influence of large amounts of Coke and chocolate-vanilla ice cream. I also wrote it while one of my cats attempted to eat my food, fall asleep on my arm, and help type the story by sitting on the keyboard. Did I mention that he finds the computer extremely fascinating, and was sniffing at it and poking at it with his paw? And that he basically spent the whole time I was writing this lying on top of the suitcases that are near the computer and looking up at me pathetically? If any of you guys have cats, you probably know what I'm talking about.
I tried to not leave it with a cliffie so you guys wouldn't kill me...I tried...



Chapter Eleven-Wakings, Findings, and Gred and Forge-iness





*Harry was walking towards the Fat Lady's portrait hole in the Gryffindor common room. He had the vague idea of going to the Owlery to send a letter to Sirius, and he decided that it was a good idea. So he moved swiftly across the room and pushed opened the portrait. Moving out of the common room, he slipped into the hole and waited for his feet to touch cold, stone floor of the corridor outside.

But the feeling never came. Filled with dread as it took longer than usual for his feet to touch the ground, Harry looked down and saw that there was no corridor floor to touch, just a deep, black abyss. With a strangled yell, he reached up and tried to grab onto the edge of the portrait hole, but somehow the portrait had closed by itself and the Fat Lady had chosen now, of all times, to be out of her frame.

So Harry fell into the dark, with the wind sweeping past him so fast it made it hard to breathe. Suddenly he heard voices below him, and looking down, he saw that far, far beneath him he could clearly see Peter Pettigrew and the resurrected form of Voldemort grinning and waiting for him to fall right next to him at the bottom of the pit that he was falling in.

"No!" Harry yelled, twisting away and trying to defy gravity by clawing his way in midair back up...and then he heard another voice, a kinder voice.

"Harry..." It was Sirius. Quickly looking up, although he was still falling, Harry saw Ron, Hermione, and Sirius looking down at him from the top of the pit. And Sirius was still speaking.

"Harry..." He was saying. "It's time, Harry, it's time..."

"T-time?" Harry sputtered. Looking down once more, he saw that he was very close to the bottom of the pit. He began to try to claw his way up again, away from Pettigrew's and Voldemort's outstretched arms, but with no avail.

"It's time...it's time..."

"Time for what?" Harry yelled, but he never heard Sirius's answer, because just then he felt his body slam into the stone floor. He could see Pettigrew looming over him, and if Sirius said anything more, Harry didn't know, because now the only thing that he could hear was a cold, cruel laugh.*



"Time to wake up, Harry!" Sirius said. With a small gasp Harry jerked out of sleep, his whole body flinching as if he really had hit a stone floor. He was confused, and didn't really know where he was, somebody had taken his glasses off and everything was blurry. Then he remembered: he was in his bed in Privet Drive. Oh, of course! Feeling strangely assured, Harry tried to roll out of bed, but instead he fell off the chair that he was sitting on and a second later he found himself sitting on a whitewashed hospital floor, and memories came back to him.

St. Mungo's...in Sirius's room...sat down on a chair...fell asleep...it was just a dream...Sirius told me to wake up...

Harry breathed a sigh of relief; it was just a dream. But then he remembered what his mind had said had happened merely moments before, but he hadn't completely processed it...Sirius told me to wake up...

Sirius told me to wake up?!?!

Looking around and feeling a bit lost without his glasses, Harry tried to jump to his feet, but he stumbled and soon found himself on the floor again.

"Er...Harry?" Came Sirius's voice from somewhere above his head. "You might...uh...need these...yeah, um..." Then Harry felt a pair of hands slip his glasses onto his eyes, and everything came into focus.

He was sitting on the floor between the chair that he had earlier pulled up to Sirius's beside and the bed itself. Still groggy from his sleep, he looked up and saw that Sirius was leaning slightly over the edge of his bed. His face a mixture of surprise, concern and a trace of amusement at his godson's stunned face. His green eyes locked with Sirius's blue, and Harry began to choke out words.

"Si...Sirius?" He asked disbelievingly. Then, feeling fully awake, he jumped to his feet-dimly noticing a sharp pain in his back from falling asleep in a hard chair--and stared down at the bed as Sirius leaned back onto his pillow. "Sirius!"

"That would be me," Sirius said, grinning slightly with his eyebrow raised in a way that gave him a slightly mischievous look. Harry was unable to take his eyes off of his godfather as he half sat; half fell onto his chair. Then he gripped the mattress with his nails and pulled his chair as close to Sirius as possible, the bedframe digging into his knees, and leaning forward so far that he was practically sitting on the bed himself.

Sirius positioned his pillow so that he was in a sitting position, leaning against the pillow and the bedframe. Then, looking into Harry's anxious face, he said, "Hi, Harry."

"Hi," came the small reply. After a moment, Harry timidly asked, "Sirius, are you...alright?"

"Yes, yes, I'm fine," Sirius said carelessly, waving his hand in the air. Then, seeing Harry's skeptical look, he sighed. "Look, I'm okay, really, I am. The inability to use this-" he nodded at the arm that was in the sling "-is annoying, and their giving me painkillers for my head that make me drowsy and tired. I'm a bit achy, for lack of a better word, but I'm really overally alright. Truly," he added a bit desperately, trying to get that look of concern off of Harry's face. "I'm okay!"

Harry sighed heavily, and leaned back in his chair, still staring at Sirius as he said, "Well, what about you, kiddo? How are you doing?"

Kiddo. Sirius's old nickname for Harry just fell out of his mouth as he spoke, without even realizing what he was doing. Memories of him sitting with Harry on his lap, playing with him as he talked to Lily and James in their living room in Godric's Hollow flooded back to him for a moment, memories that had all but disappeared during the time that he spent in Azkaban. But the moment passed, and they were gone.

"I'm...managing," Harry said truthfully, not wanting to lie to Sirius and say that he was fine as well. Then he realized something. "Wait a second, how come you aren't surprised that I'm here?"

"Dumbledore told me that the Weasleys were bringing you over today," Sirius answered, smiling at him. "But even if I hadn't known that you were coming, I wouldn't have been surprised to see you. I know that you would have gotten here somehow, even if it meant flying on your broomstick."

"Dumbledore was here? When?" Harry asked sharply, sitting up again.

"Just yesterday," Sirius said, looking curiously at Harry. "Why? What's the matter? Is something wrong?"

"Did he tell you anything about Fudge?" Harry asked quickly, ignoring Sirius's questions.

"Fudge?" Sirius said, looking bewildered. "No, he didn't mention Fudge...what are you talking about, Harry? What's going on? Harry?"

Harry had sunk back into his chair, his face pale. "I thought you knew...I thought you knew..."

"Knew what?" Sirius asked, beginning to get scared now. "Harry, please tell me what's wrong, please, your scaring me now..."

Harry was silent for a minute, staring at his knees, and in that time Sirius studied him carefully. Then he sighed, and after he thought he had a good idea about what was going on, he said, "It's about my trial, isn't it?"

Harry raised his eyes to look at him. "I guess you could say that," he answered miserably. Then he leaned forward again, resting his elbows on Sirius's bed. Green met blue as their eyes locked for a second time. Sirius leaned forward as well, carefully moving closer to Harry as he tried to monitor the movement of his sprained arm.

"Yes, it's about the trial..." Harry began reluctantly. He seemed to not want to continue. "Fudge says that you're not going to have one..." His throat constricted for a few seconds, then he made himself speak again. "After your recovered, he wants to send you straight back to Azkaban."

Sirius's face was dark as he leaned back onto his pillow. "I expected that," he muttered distractedly. Then, directing his attention back to Harry, he asked, "But Dumbledore's fighting for me, right?"

"Right," Harry answered weakly. Sirius looked at him in concern, unhappily noticing the dark shadows under his eyes and-although he came no where near to Sirius-how pale he was.

"Look, I'm going to get that trial," he said firmly, and found that he was reassuring himself more than Harry. "I am! I'm going to get it, kid, don't you worry. Fudge is going to give me that trial whether he wants to or not!"



* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *


Meanwhile, the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, Colette Villons, was walking through the lobby of St. Mungo's. As she walked, male heads turned to watch her make her way swiftly to the center of the room. Used to this kind of attention, Colette ignored it and continued her search for Cornelius Fudge.

Where on Earth is that man? She thought irritably. Tapping her foot impatiently, she glanced at her watch. He is supposed to be here...

Colette wasn't used to waiting for people. She had always been very impatient, her whole life, despite of what her mother used to say: "Tenez vos chaveuax!" Hold your horses! But Colette had always been somewhat of a cheeky little girl, and had always promptly and matter-of-factly replied, "Mais mama, je n'ai pas aucun cheval." But Mama, I do not have any horses.

Grinning slightly as she felt herself slip into her memories, she hardly noticed when a man came up behind until he tapped on her shoulder.

"Hello, Miss Villons," said a familiar voice. But the voice didn't belong to Cornelius Fudge. Colette turned to face him, smiling at the long white beard and blue eyes behind a pair of half-moon spectacles.

"Hello, Albus," She said pleasantly, looking at him carefully. "I trust everything is going well in your neck of the woods?"

"Not as well I would like," Dumbledore answered, giving a small sigh. "Colette, I need to talk to you. It's very important. Although you don't hold as much power as Cornelius Fudge, this matter does greatly involve your field, and I was hoping that you will listen to my story and possibly give me some help."

Colette looked at Dumbldore curiously and almost suspiciously. He had never come to ask her for his help before-she had always pretty much stayed in her department and he had always dealt with his school. They were just acquantices, and neither of them knew the other one all that well. He must really need help...she thought.

"It involves the law?" Colette asked, still trying to think of what he could possibly need her help with.

"Yes," Dumbledore said. "Maybe we could have lunch together?"

"Well, I'm actually waiting to meet the Minister," She said, gesturing around the lobby. "But he doesn't seem to be here..."

"He won't be here for about an hour," Dumbledore said. "He was held up at the Ministry."

"Oh," Colette smiled. "So that's why you're here?"

"Yes. So lunch?"

"Lunch."



* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *


Back in room 521, Sirius had fallen asleep again. Moving quietly so as to not wake his godfather, Harry carefully slipped out of the room and into the hallway. Walking past the doors to his left and right, he made his way into the waiting room, where-even though it was hours later-Fred, George, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione were still waiting. Percy and Mrs. Weasley had gone to find Mr. Weasley, who was still trying to find Professor Dumbledore. They all looked up at him, and Hermione tentatively said, "Well?"

Sitting down in one of the empty chairs and smiling at them all, Harry told them everything that had happened since he had entered Sirius's room, although leaving out the content of his dream and of the conversation between him and Sirius. He wanted to keep those two things to himself for the time being.

After a few minutes of a comfortable silence between the six of them, Fred and George suddenly stood up.

"Harry," Fred began importantly. "Since we are the official Gred and Forge of Hogwarts and of the world, we will present an offering to you." Harry looked at them warily, not sure whether he wanted they're offering or not.

"Here," Fred said, and he reached into his pocket and pulled out his wand.

"Fred," Hermione began to scold him. "You know that we're not supposed to do magic outside of school-"

"Wait, Hermione," George said, holding up his hand to silence her. "Just wait." Then he nodded at his brother, telling him to continue.

"Right," Fred said. "Moving along...Lumos." But instead of the wand's tip lighting up, the wand changed into a small, brown, plush teddy bear. Fred grinned and tossed the bear to Harry, who caught it in surprise. He stared at it. A teddy bear? Suddenly, there was a small *pop* sound and a second later the teddy bear was holding a piece of paper that read, "Gotcha!" Harry laughed along with everyone else, and even Hermione was smiling. George walked over to him, grinning.

"A new version of our trick wands!" He said proudly. "Here you, go Harry!" And with that he thrust about five more of those wands into Harry's hands. "As many as you want!"

Harry stuffed them into his pocket, and smiled around at all the people sitting in the room. "Thanks, guys," He said. "For everything."







A/N: Wow I worked like a house elf to get this out! *inches away from a glaring Hermione* All the time I started singing all these traveling-working songs for some reason, like Into the Woods, Heigh-Ho, We're Off to See the Wizard, and I've Been Working on the Railroad...I love singing, don't sue me! Hehe, my parents are annoyed because I'm not helping load the car for tomorrow...oh, well.

Well, Sirius finally woke up! Hurray! This chapter didn't really end on a cliffie, did it? I don't think so...I'll try to have chapter 12 ready by the time I get back in two weeks, but I'm sorry, I can't guarantee anything!

Well, I hoped you guys liked this, and remember to check back in early September for an update.


Abby: Oh, broke your ankle! Man, that sucks. I hope it gets better soon! Well, I had a sprained ankle once, and I was in the ER waiting for a X-ray forever...also, I've been to the ER for my brother before, and I know that it's not fun.
The fifth book...oy. Let's say that she-theoretically-finished writing it today...we wouldn't get it until January. Why? Because it takes five months to edit, design, print, and ship to bookstores. So, we won't be getting it any time soon. Marvelous, huh? I did hear about that thing in China, but I think that it's better to get the best deal possible than if she rushed things and made a book that didn't live up to the others. Painkillers? Ugh.
You must have read the chapter before I fixed everything-go back and read it!

Alexis Potter: Oh, I love new reviewers! Hi! Well, thanks a lot, I'm really glad that you like my story!

Yuffie-Girl: You're my fiftieth reviewer! Woohoo! Yeah, Fudge is pretty dumb in this story, huh?

Gengi: Your computer won't let you sign in? That sucks...don't worry; he drives me crazy, too!

WeasleyTwinsLover1112: You must have read the chapter before I fixed it! Go back and read it, I think everything will make more sense now! Well, this chapter is a bit longer than the past two, and I'll try to write longer chapters...thanks, I'm glad that I did Fudge well.


Well, that's all, folks! *Nibbles on a carrot* I'll see you in two weeks!