A/N – The thing is… Well I'm not sure exactly what everyone thought about the last few frenzied chapters that I churned out, apart of course for those of you who were wonderful enough to review, *blows a kiss to the best friendys that any author could ask for* J Thanks! Anyway, on to the story… things are heating up and there is a lot for Harry to think about… So I think that we'd better pop back into dear little Harry Potter's head for this one. Hope you like it…
Harry ate his dinner with a knot of anticipation in his
stomach.
He had to see Sirius, once he could see his godfather face
to face and know that he really was safe the fear and apprehension would have
to go away...
"Harry!" Yelled Ron
"Earth to Harry! Gosh, I thought you'd never notice, what's up with you?"
Harry shook his head, smiling briefly.
"Oh, it's nothing Ron. I'll tell you later OK?"
Ron shrugged and went back to eating his meal.
Harry was watching Dumbledore and Snape at the head
table. They seemed preoccupied as well,
Dumbledore was twirling his fork in the air as if conducting music but didn't
seem to be paying much attention to it, as Professor McGonagall had to keep
ducking.
Snape was glancing around the room almost nervously and
Harry had to look away as he was sure Snape's eyes kept falling on him.
Harry waited until the headmaster got up to leave and then
followed quickly, anxious to see Sirius.
He had expected to be relieved, but when Harry saw his
godfather reach to greet him Harry felt the icy fear heighten and his scar
flashed with pain, he confusedly stumbled backwards into Dumbledore who
steadied him looking anxious.
"Harry! Are you
alright?" Shouted Sirius, hurrying over
and grabbing Harry's arm.
"Yeah, it was just a quick burn, I'm sure it's fine… It's so good to see you!" Said Harry grinning at his godfather who
still looked rather concerned.
"If you're sure." Muttered Sirius leading Harry to a chair and looking him over nervously.
Dumbledore cleared his throat,
"If you're okay Harry I think you two need a little time to
catch up. I'll be at Hagrid's if you
need me. He'll have a report for
me." He said, eyes sparkling.
"Hagrid's back?" Asked Harry happily.
"Yes, and I expect he's impatient to see me." Said Dumbledore as he left.
Harry turned back to Sirius who was watching him intensely.
"What is it Sirius?" Asked Harry.
"I was just thinking about Draco Malfoy and the lake…" Said Sirius with a marauder's grin.
"So, I guess you've always known, about the prophecy, and
everything…" Said Harry.
"Yes, I'm sorry." Said Sirius wringing his hands nervously.
Harry stared back at him,
"It's okay Sirius. It was better that I didn't know before now." He said smiling reassuringly at his godfather.
There was a slight pause before Sirius said
"Dumbledore was right."
"Yes I suppose it was a difficult decision, whether or not
to tell me." Said Harry.
"No! I mean he was
right when he told me that you were taking this much better than we could have
hoped."
Harry blushed and fell silent.
"It's a hell of a lot to live up to Harry. I need you to know that me, and Dumbledore,
we're here for you. If you ever need
anything, all you need to do is ask…"
Harry grinned at this
"Well… When I say
'anything' what I really mean…" Started
Sirius hastily before he and Harry started to laugh,
Harry realised that he'd never seen Sirius laugh like that
before and he enjoyed the moment.
"Harry, can we be serious for a minute please?"
"Um, sure, Sirius." Said Harry seeing the anxiety and strain in Sirius' face.
"I want to make sure you understand, you can't use this
whole prophecy as an excuse to be the hero. You mean a lot to all of us, you mean a lot to me, after losing your
parents I don't think I could go on if I lost you."
There was a silence.
"Sirius, what were my parents like?" Asked Harry quietly.
He watched Sirius' eyes brighten,
"They were the best people in the world, and two of my best
friends. Your father and I were always
close…" Harry listened raptly as Sirius described the time that the marauders
had put a laughter potion in the teachers' food and the time Snape's hair had
begun to fall out somehow…
"What did they do? After Hogwarts I mean." Harry
asked eagerly,
"Well, by that time James had started to show that he was
an exceptional wizard and due to the desperate need for people willing to fight
against the dark lord, he became an auror, and a damned good one at that. And your Mum, well she was always really
good at charms, especially healing charms, so she was the medical witch for
your Father's Auror team. When we found
out that Voldemort was after them James had to stop their work, it was too
dangerous. And Lily had been staying at
home anyway because she was looking after you. After that, well, you know what happened."
Harry smiled at Sirius comfortingly and his godfather
smiled back, they sat in silence for a while before changing the subject.
They managed to discuss Quidditch, school lessons and Draco
Malfoy's pathetic attempt at front crawl in the lake before they were too worn
out from laughing to talk any more before Dumbledore eventually returned
"Well, I hope you two are sufficiently re-acquainted for
now. Sirius will be staying in the room
next door Harry, in case you need him."
Said the headmaster, indicating a door, which had previously
escaped Harry's notice, and which he was sure hadn't been there last year.
"The password is 'Snuffles'" said Sirius grinning.
Harry nodded and left feeling much more relaxed although he
realised with a frown that the knot of anxiety was still there and his scar was
still a bit sore.
He sighed as he reached the Fat Lady's portrait.
"Tough day dear?" She asked kindly as he gave her the password ("Gillyweed"). Harry nodded and climbed through.
He saw that the only people still up were Fred and George who
were talking to Ginny. He waved at them
before trudging up to the dorm.
Ron was already asleep so Harry clambered into bed in
silence. The snores of the other
Gryffindor boys was a reassuring sound for Harry as he lay there, trying his
best not to feel 'alone'. When he
realised that he couldn't sleep he reached over and took out his photo album,
he was thinking about something Dumbledore had said. I made it happen because I wanted to see them… so… maybe…
He realised that he was probably too tired to make it work,
but he decided to try it anyway.
He closed his eyes and tried to picture his parents, he
felt the sensation of falling and opened his eyes, and he saw that it had
worked. But this time, he was alone
with his parents.
James was sitting, reading the Daily Prophet by the fire
whilst Lily sat opposite him, flicking through the photos hurriedly.
"I can't find it!" She exclaimed.
Harry loved the sound of his mother's voice, he moved
closer to them both, trembling.
"Ah! Here it
is!" Shouted Lily in triumph.
"Shhh!" Hissed
James, "You'll wake Harry!"
Harry started and looked around quickly, seeing no sign of
himself he turned back to his parents and went over to look at the photo Lily
was holding. It was one of the ones
from his album.
"Is that the one Padfoot wanted?" Asked James in a whisper.
"No. It's the one
we said Moony could have back." Answered Lily smiling.
Harry grinned at hearing his parents using the marauders
names for their friends. Harry felt a
wave of fatigue wash over him and decided that he'd have to leave. He closed his eyes again and concentrated as
hard as he could on getting back to his bed.
As he returned he felt the coldness rush over him, his
first thought was that it must be a dementor but glancing around he noticed
that someone had left a window open and the cold night air was rushing through
it making the drapes billow out. Harry
reached over and pulled it shut, then he squirmed under his blankets to sleep.
In the middle of the night the window burst open once again,
and Harry woke up with a scream, shaking violently and clutching his scar.
Hee hee hee I just luv cliff hangers don't you? But never fear, the next chapter shouldn't be too far away.
Please review!
Jona
xxx