A/N: First of all, sorry about the delay in posting this. I've had it typed out for quite a while, but my computer got the "blaster worm" virus so I haven't been able to use the internet for ages. This chapter has a Harry POV. I want to keep this fic quite light-hearted, so I've stopped myself from going into great depths concerning his feelings about Sirius' death, this will be one of the only chapters to deal with it, so that's the reason in case anyone starts to wonder. As always, reviews are welcomed. And, as far as I'm aware, I haven't changed into JK overnight. Wouldn't mind if I had though….
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Chapter Two: Sirius
A week had passed since Harry's return to Grimmauld Place, and he was still finding being in his godfather's old home difficult. He suspected that the others knew this (the way they skirted around the subject and threw anxious looks at him confirmed this hunch), but was grateful that it had not been directly mentioned. A few times, Hermione had looked as though she wanted to ask Harry how he was coping, but she had just managed to restrain herself. For this, Harry was grateful. His feelings about Sirius' death were a muddle even to him, and there was no way he was ready or able to describe them. Most of the time, he felt a dull sort of ache, but there were times when the fact that Sirius was dead seemed to wash straight over him, shaking him to the very core. At times like this, he felt overwhelmingly lethargic, and took to spending hours lying on his bed in Ron's room, staring into space. It was an effort to get out of bed in the mornings.
On the morning that signalled a week since his arrival, Harry went down to breakfast to find Ron, Hermione and Ginny already there. Ron and Hermione were tucking into loaded plates of bacon sandwiches with egg, and Ginny was removing a letter from an owl that Harry didn't recognise.
Helping himself to a sandwich, Harry took a seat next to Ron, across from Hermione and Ginny.
"Who's the owl from, Ginny?" Ron asked thickly, his mouth full of bacon.
Ginny shot him a disgusted look, but replied all the same.
"Luna," she said absently, quickly scanning the parchment, "two sentences asking how I am, and the rest asking for information about you."
"About me?" Ron's eyebrows shot up into his hairline in bewilderment, and Ginny suppressed a giggle. "Why would she send you an owl asking about me?"
"Isn't it obvious?" Ginny asked, with the air of one talking to a small child, "she fancies you."
Ron opened his mouth as if to talk, and then closed it again. He stared at Ginny for a while as if she was mentally unhinged, and shook his head in confusion. Out of the corner of his eye, Harry caught Hermione scowl and poke her egg harder than was strictly necessary. He caught Ginny's eye and they both grinned and quickly looked away to avoid laughing. A comfortable silence fell over the group as they ate. Eventually, it was Hermione who was the first to speak.
"Harry," she said hesitantly, "I found some old things belonging to Sirius yesterday when I was cleaning the house, and I thought you might like to have a look at them."
Harry felt a wave of pain wash through his stomach doubled with a bubble of anger towards Hermione for bringing the subject up when he was starting to feel happier again. He struggled to suppress both, and answered evenly.
"That's okay," Harry tried to keep his voice from shaking, "just put them somewhere."
"Are you sure?" Hermione asked, watching him closely, and taking a deep breath, "It's just that you have to deal with it sooner or later, you know. Not talking about it will only make it worse in the long run."
Ron shot Hermione a quick warning glance, but Harry didn't trust himself to speak. Taking his silence as an encouragement, Hermione opened her mouth to plough straight on. It seemed as though she had been wanting to say this all summer.
"We know that you're upset about Sirius, Harry," she faltered slightly at the look on Harry's face, "and we are too, but you can't keep locking yourself away all summer. It's not healthy to keep everything inside, and besides Harry, Sirius would have wanted for you to carry on with your life as best as possible. He wouldn't have wanted you to just lock yourself up in your room -"
The bubble of anger, which initially had been quite small, had swelled up inside Harry's gut and was threatening to burst out of him.
"How do you know what Sirius would have wanted?" He cut in, each word emphasising anger. "He was my godfather, and thanks to me, he's not exactly around for us to ask anymore."
A small part of Harry's brain registered that it was a bit unfair of him to assume that he was the only one suffering, but this rational part had been taken over by the much larger, fuming part that hearing Sirius' name had set off. He glared at Hermione, challenging her to say one more word about it. She visibly paled, but seemed determined to say her piece.
"Harry, I know that he wouldn't have wanted you to waste –"
"That's enough, Hermione." Ron interrupted suddenly, looking at the expression on Harry's face worriedly.
Hermione nervously withdrew her eyes from Harry's glare, and turned to face Ron. It seemed as though they were having a silent battle of wills. Hermione was the first to look away, and returned to poking the egg on her plate furiously. Ron sent Harry a silent look of apology, but Harry refused to meet his eye, he was concentrating on trying to stop his hands from shaking as he too picked back up his discarded cutlery. The bubble of rage continued to swell inside of him menacingly, causing him to knock over his glass of pumpkin juice.
Hermione looked up at him, but remained silent. Ron and Ginny acted like they didn't notice.
Another silence fell over them, but this time it was more uneasy, and was only broken by Ginny asking if anyone had anything they wanted her to add in her reply to Luna. Hermione was the first to finish, and without a word set her dirty dishes in the sink and proceeded upstairs. Ron followed suit five minutes later leaving behind only Harry, who was still gripping his fork in anger, and Ginny, who was composing her reply to Luna at the table.
After a few minutes, Harry became aware that Ginny had set down her quill and was looking at him thoughtfully. When he turned to meet her gaze, she didn't look away, but continued to regard him with big brown eyes.
"Harry," she said at last, "do you blame me for Hermione getting petrified in my first year?"
Taken aback by the change in subject, Harry said the first thing that came into his mind.
"No," he replied in a voice that was more like his own, "it was Voldemort's fault."
Ginny stood up and took her own plate to the sink.
"Well, it wasn't your fault about Sirius then," she said matter-of-factly, now scribbling her name at the bottom of the parchment, "and you really should stop blaming yourself."
Harry stared at her for a moment, as the meaning of her words began to sink in, and was just about to open his mouth to speak when he noticed that Ginny was standing by the doorframe and about to speak.
"I was just going to play some Quidditch," she said cheerfully, "to make sure that I get Chaser next year. Fred and George know this spell to make an indoor Quidditch pitch and they're not going to the shop this morning. Do you feel like playing?"
Harry grinned at her with what he realised was his first genuine smile of the summer.
"Okay."
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A/N: I love Hermione, I really do, but she never seems to understand that Harry doesn't like to talk about things that are bothering him. He's too much of a brooder. Special thanks to everyone who reviewed the first chapter, and made me want to write this one. Liebling: First of all, thanks for being my first reviewer! Second of all, thanks for being so nice in the review! Lourdes: I agree, I think H/G is what JK is planning, and hopefully that would include the final battle. I don't think Ginny is the kind of girl that would just sit on the sidelines! Lydia: Thanks! Met19: Thanks, hopefully you'll like this chapter too! Lady A: I'm glad I caught your attention, but sorry for the delay in updating…it wasn't my fault, the "blaster worm" got me!! Psycho Queen: H/G and R/Hr for life!! I definitely agree with that! Gapman: Here's the next chapter, hope you like it. Amanda: From now on, I should be able to update regularily. Later gator. Star*: Thanks for the suggestion, I like it when people do that in reviews. I was thinking of it anyone, but your review persuaded me to do this chapter with Harry's POV. What do you think of it? I deleted "I Wish" because the whole premise didn't seem to fit in with Ginny's character in OOTP, and mainly because I run out of ideas for it (but don't tell anyone that!) Hope to hear from you soon!