~ Rumblings ~

"Well we have to do something," Sirius said angrily. "Harry is too young to have to worry about himself and others being killed."
"Mr. Black, your godson does not have to worry about everyone else in the world," said Vincent Aramond, the Minister for Magic.
"But he does Vincent," Headmaster Dumbledore tried to explain. "It has been prophesied that he must be the one to kill Voldemort. Prophecies do not always come to pass, but Harry will not take the chance of ignoring it at the expense of innocent lives. He knows only too well what it is like to lose loved ones to Voldemort. He can barely remember his parents and he is told daily that they were great wizards. The public expects him to do something, he feels pressured."
"It's true," Sirius nodded. "He's been stressed lately, he won't stand by and watch innocent people die for much longer. Everyday people tell him about how much he looks like James or how his eyes are exactly the same as Lily's or how James would have been so proud of him. And all he hears is the echo of that damn prophecy in his head. I'm afraid he won't listen to my warnings anymore. He's only eighteen," Sirius finished, sounding almost desperate.
"Precisely, he is only eighteen," Minister Aramond nodded.
"An eighteen year old who was forced to grow up faster than everyone else around him. An eighteen year old with the prospect of murder in his future," added Dumbledore gravely.
"If we don't find something soon I'm afraid Harry will go looking for Voldemort. We're lucky He stayed quiet for this many years! He won't stay quiet for much longer; his forces are gathering and gaining power. I won't loose Harry to that! I've lost too many people to Voldemort already."
"We are trying to do something, but we're not getting any information out of these books," Aramond said, gesturing to the ancient books they had been using for research. "I can contact the Ministers of a few other countries, maybe they will know something or have some useful books on dark powers. I can't afford to take any Aurors away to look for Voldemort, they've already got their hands full protecting Britain from the Death Eater attacks that have started."
"Thank you," Dumbledore nodded. "Come on Sirius, I'm sure Vincent has other things to do than endure your glare." He guided Sirius out of the room. "You'll contact me if any new information arises?"
"Yes, of course," the Minister answered.
"Then we shall talk later," Dumbledore smiled, closing the door as he dragged Sirius from the room. "And I will contact you when I hear anything." He added to Sirius. "Now go home, spend some time with Harry and Remus."
"I suppose you're right," Sirius sighed.
"Yes, I am. Don't look so frustrated, you'll only make Harry more worried. Go home and read or play Quidditch, or swim in that ridiculously large pool of yours."
Sirius smiled, "Okay, you'll be in touch?"
"Yes," Dumbledore answered. "Oh, and Sirius, say hello to the fish for me."
Sirius rolled his eyes. "Bye," he said apparating to his front door miles away. "Hello?" he called upon entering the hall. No one answered. 'Hmm.. I guess they're still in Diagon Alley,' he thought to himself as he made his way to his room. A swim before supper didn't seem like a bad idea at all.

*~*~*~*~*~*

"You didn't get anything done!" Harry exclaimed.
"Well that's not true, we know what books are absolutely useless now."
"Sirius, this isn't funny. People are dying!"
"Don't you think I know that!" Sirius yelled, running his hands through his hair in frustration.
"Sirius, calm down." Remus ordered. The three of them had just finished supper and were still sitting at the kitchen table. Remus was sitting at the head of the table, acting as referee for the fight he had known was coming. Fights between Harry and Sirius were slightly less than pleasant. Sirius worried about Harry, Harry worried about anyone and everyone that wasn't himself, and they were both too stubborn to admit that they were being unreasonable.
Sirius sighed; hanging his head while Remus turned to Harry. "Harry, they've checked almost every book in the entire United Kingdom. They're doing the best they can."
"Dumbledore is getting a new shipment of books in two days, he owled me just before supper. Let us find something before you go running off looking for the man who wants to kill you. You won't be able to help anyone if you're dead," said Sirius calmly. Though the thought of Harry dying scared him beyond belief.
Harry sighed; he could see the fear in his godfather's eyes. "I'm sorry. I know I can't go looking for Voldemort. It's just, I feel like I should be. I'm the one who has to- kill him." Sirius nodded, not returning Harry's gaze.
"Harry, aren't you supposed to meet Ron and Hermione soon?" Remus asked.
"Yeah," said Harry, not taking his eyes off of Sirius.
"Why don't you go, have some fun. Tell them we said 'Hi'," Remus suggested.
"Okay," said Harry, turning away from Sirius, who still hadn't looked up form his plate. 'I'll go get ready," he said, getting up from the table. Remus and Sirius sat in silence until he came back downstairs.
"How do I look?" asked Harry. Sirius raised his head to see Harry standing in the doorway. He was wearing light beige khakis, a black shirt, and his dark green cloak. He had on his new glasses which we much smaller and not so round as his old glasses. They made him look sophisticated.
"You look great," he smiled.
"Thanks, I'll be back, probably around one."
"Be careful," Remus said. "Have fun."
Harry nodded, looking back to his godfather who had gotten up and was staring out the window into the darkening back yard. Remus smiled reassuringly at Harry, motioning for him to leave. "Okay, bye," Harry said, looking at Sirius one more time before leaving to mean his friends.

"Sirius?" Remus asked slowly. "Yeah?" "You're radiating fear, I can sense it." Sirius turned to his friend, "Pretend you can't sense it."
"I can't do that, I'm a werewolf, I just sense things."
"So what do you expect me to say?" asked Sirius harshly.
"I want you to tell me why you're so terrified."
Sirius only hung his head again, walking outside onto the back patio. Remus followed quietly. Sirius stopped in the middle of the yard and turned to face Remus. "You know what I'm scared of, because you're scared of the same thing."
"You know he wouldn't really go looking for Voldemort, he has more sense than that. He's just getting impatient."
Sirius shook his head, "He's only eighteen Remus, do you remember what we were like when we were eighteen?"
"I remember what you were like."
"Reckless, we were stupid and reckless. What makes you think Harry is any different?"
"He has more to worry about than we did. Voldemort was just starting to gain power then. None of us were worried for our families like Harry is, or for the rest of the world," Remus said, trying to make Sirius feel better.
Sirius laughed a fake, sarcastic laugh. "Because of Voldemort Harry no longer has a family to worry about."
"That's not true, he worries about you just as much as you worry about him," said Remus. "You must see that."
Sirius sat down on the grass, "Yes, I know that, I'm just not sure I believe it. It's been so long since anyone worried about me, let alone a teenager."
"I know, not even I worry about you to the extent that Harry does though, he loves you like his own father. You're the only real family he has."
"And he's the only family I have, besides you that is. That's what worries me though, Remus." Sirius ran his hands through his hair again; he sounded almost frantic.
Remus sat down beside him, "What do you mean?"
"I can't lose him Remus, if he dies- I-I can't, not after everything- " Sirius looked into the eyes of his best friend, desperately looking for comfort.
Remus held Sirius' gaze as long as he could bear before looking away, Sirius looked so scared that he was on the verge of tears. Remus couldn't remember Sirius ever crying or looking that scared, ever. "He won't die, I won't let him, you won't let him, Dumbledore won't let him."
Sirius now held his head in his hands; his elbows propped on his knees. "Remus, what if we can't save him every time? What if- we're too late. I'm not as strong as James was-"
"You're every bit as strong as James was," Remus interrupted. "He entrusted you with his only child, and you and I both know how much he loved Harry."
"It's just that, if something happened, if I couldn't save him, I couldn't deal with it Remus. I can't lose him too. Not after James and Lily, and you for so many years. I lost everyone I ever cared about when I went to Azkaban." Remus was sure that Sirius had tears running down his face, but he couldn't see any of Sirius' face at the moment. His hands and shoulder length hair shrouded him in the growing darkness of night.
"Nothing will happen to Harry as long as we're alive. I've lost everyone I cared about as well, and now that I have you and Harry back- I won't let anything happen to you." Remus' voice was filled with hurt and determination. His life since James and Lily died had not been much better than Sirius'. The rest of the world may have rejoiced at the downfall of Voldemort, but the lives of those close to Lily and James had taken a definite downturn.
Sirius was so surprised by the tone of Remus' voice that he looked up at his friend. His eyes were red and he still looked scared, but it was nothing compared to the pain in Remus' eyes.
"Remus?" Sirius asked worriedly. "I'm sorry, I know your life hasn't been that great either. I shouldn't have-"
"No," Remus interrupted, "it's okay, you're worried about Harry, so am I. You just- you reminded me of how alone I was."
"I know, I was alone too."
Remus shook his head, "No, it's one thing to really be alone, you were locked in a cell on an island. It's another thing, completely, to be wholly alone and be surrounded by people everyday.
"So our lives sucked and now we're afraid that Voldemort is going to kill the only person keeping us from falling apart," Sirius summed up almost sarcastically.
"Pretty much," Remus sighed. "When I met Harry in his third year, my life changed. He reminded me so much of Lily and James. He was the closest thing I had to anything like a family, and although he didn't know it, it made me feel better."
"I watched him play Quidditch a couple times that year, he even flies like James. He gave me some renewed hope too. Even when he was trying to kill me. I thought that if he did, Lily and James' deaths would be avenged."
"But that wasn't your fault."
"I believed it was though."
"Now all this has happened and we're facing the same thing all over again," Remus sighed.
"Except this time there are no magic charms and we know that we can trust each other," said Sirius, laying down to stare at the starry sky.
"Yes, and I am eternally thankful for that," Remus agreed, lying down as well. He propped his head on his arms and the two men fell into silence, each staring beyond the sky and into their own minds.