~ Chapter 3: Complexities of the Heart ~

At the Dursleys…

Petunia E. Dursley was staring blankly at the bedroom ceiling, while listening to her husband's snores. She was overwhelmed with a confusing mixture of feelings that night. This was because the Dursleys were shocked to their cores when the police officers arrived to reveal what their precious son was up to. Vernon was close to apoplexy by the time the police officers were gone, after giving the Dursleys strict warnings regarding their son. Her husband had remained silent after that, going straight up to the bedroom without touching his dinner that she had painstakingly prepared. Her Dudley did not at all look repentant as he shoved Harry out of his way to sit himself at the table. And all this time, we thought Harry was the rotten one.

"Go to your room Dudley," Aunt Petunia instructed in a flat voice, her nose denting a little at her disappointment. Harry stared at her with shock. Evidently, Dudley too was caught surprised by his mother's reaction, as he froze midway of sitting down on the chair.

"But I have not eaten anything yet!" Dudley protested in a shocked voice.

"YOU ARE NOT GOING TO HAVE ANY DINNER!" Her voice suddenly cracked out like a whip. Harry was sure that she could be heard all around the neighborhood, as the air crackled. His cousin's face reddened slightly but the stocky boy marched off without a word.

CRACK.

Harry bristled with anger as his bedroom door was smashed by Dudley's kick. A door slammed and the house went silent. There was a diffident knock on the door. Must be Professor Lupin. Harry opened the door cautiously as Lupin went in, tilting his head a little at Aunt Petunia's direction.

"Don't worry; I'll fix the door for you," the tired-looking man whispered as he made his way up the staircase. Professor Lupin treaded the corridor silently and shook his head at Harry's bedroom door. They had better provide him with a counseling session soon, before the boy gets out of hand. The Professor flicked his wand and whispered, "Reparo."

He walked down the stairs silently to meet Harry who was waiting for him. "No problem," then he gave a whisper, "are you all right?"

Harry gave a nod, the Professor waved goodbye, and Harry shut the door firmly behind him. They're still watching me. His aunt interrupted his thoughts.

"Harry," she called stiffly, and the teenage boy gave her a wary look, "eat your dinner before it gets cold."

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Nymphadora Tonks exchanged an incredulous look with Professor McGonagall as both watched through the glass of the amplifier.

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Petunia did a lot of soul-searching that very night. Then she heard a desperate cry coming from the next room and she sat up on the bed. It was coming from Harry's bedroom. After she had ensured, that Vernon was sound asleep and unlikely to wake up, she crept quietly out of the bedroom and paused to listen. She was awarded with another set of snores coming from Dudley's room.

A series of strangled moans could be heard from behind Harry's door. Her hand froze at the doorknob and taking a deep breath, she turned the knob. The door opened without a sound. She went in and closed the door quietly behind her. She stood still in the dark bedroom. Hedwig watched silently, the owl turned her head to stare at the woman. Her eyes focused on the bed and dimly saw Harry trashing about his bed.

"Sirius...where are you?" Harry choked back a sob and suddenly Petunia sympathized with this strange offspring of her sister.

"Mom--Dad--did you find him? Where is Sirius? Nick--can't you find him?" Harry pleaded, then moaned, turning his face towards the window and she saw the tears that streaked his face.

"It's my fault...all mine…" Harry's voice trailed off. "Should have listened to Snape--Sirius." Harry thrashed around some more and suddenly raised his hand, reaching out desperately for something. "SIRIUS!" The young wizard jerked himself awake, panting a little and was surprised to find his aunt staring at him. She did not stop to think as she reacted instinctively. Harry had begun to shake and she sat beside his bed and enfolded him in her arms.

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"Now that is groundbreaking news," as Lupin stared out at the amplifier, watching the woman giving silent comfort to Harry Potter. Tonks pulled the sometimes-werewolf wizard from the instrument as she took her turn to study the form of Mrs. Dursley, watching the lean woman as she tucked Harry back to bed and went out of the room silently.

"Why the sudden change of character?" Tonks demanded Lupin, as the occupants of the house opposite the Dursleys' looked helplessly at each other.

"How would I know?" Lupin protested.

CRACK!

The occupants looked at the just Apparated Bill. He looked soberly at them.

"Professor Dumbledore said that there is a high possibility that Sirius is still alive."

Professor McGonagall gave a small gasp.

"But he does not want us to tell Harry this."

"I agree," Professor Lupin nodded vigorously. "No point putting false hope in the boy. This might be the last straw." At Bill's inquiring look, Lupin said, "The boy is this close to having his spirits broken." Lupin explained, demonstrating with his thumb and forefinger.

"So Sirius did fall through a Portal?" Professor McGonagall asked in a small voice.

"Yes. It is going to be hard to search for Sirius. He could be anywhere. If he's trapped in-between, it'll be an extremely difficult hunt."

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Harry woke up with a slight headache the next day. However, it is not because of the scar; he was aware that he had done a lot of excessive crying the last night. He was really worn out; he felt his spirits draining out of him. The only thing that had made his summer holidays tolerable for the past few years was largely because of Sirius. Now his godfather was gone. And it's because of his own stupidity that his godfather had died. He had realized that now. He had reacted recklessly for the past few months and almost got his friends killed.

He got up from his bed and opened Hedwig's cage and the owl hopped from its perch to Harry's arm. Harry flung her out of the window as she soared up to spread her wings a little. The members of the Order are still watching me. I wonder when they'll get tired of that. Harry looked out at the sunny morning as the heat began to increase. Harry sighed and went out of his bedroom to get a bite of breakfast.

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Harry stepped into the dining room and seated himself. He silently poured himself a glass of orange juice and munched down on bacons and eggs. Dudley was looking at Harry sullenly. I bet he would really like to kick me instead of my bedroom door. Just that the knowledge of professional witches and wizards are making sure that nothing happens to me dampens the situation a little. As though he could not stand being in the same room with the boy-wizard, Dudley stormed out and slammed the front door. Harry watched his Uncle Vernon in trepidation.

However, his uncle kept on reading the newspaper, his mustache not even twitching. Without warning, his uncle thrust the newspaper to him, his face demanding Harry to take it. Harry took the newspaper cautiously and his eyes instantly fell onto a mini-subheading 'Strange sightings seen across Europe'.

From places all over UK, people have reported of seeing cloaked figures, and these sightings were confined to the most rural areas. Speculations have been made that they were monks on pilgrimage but some have said that these figures do not symbolize peace. One spoke of them as the agents of chaos. These sightings are still under investigation.

Harry looked up from the paper, feeling his insides tense. Uncle Vernon looked at him, his eyes flashing dangerously. Harry felt himself breaking out into cold sweat as suspicion crept in. Dementors. I knew that they had revolted, but I did not expect that they would go as far as to create trouble among the Muggles. He gulped several times and scanned the newspaper for more clues.

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