Harry Potter Book 6
The coolest day of the summer so far was coming to a close. The only person left inside was a skinny teenage boy with untidy black hair and glasses. These days, Harry Potter was constantly filled with fear. Although he knew Voldemort had been back for nearly two years, his encounter with him at the end of the previous school year had left him even more frightened. Harry also felt as if a piece of him was missing. After he had seen his godfather fall through the veil, he had a heavy weight on him. He sometimes blamed himself for what happened to Sirius. He still hadn't told his aunt and uncle what happened to him.
"And why should I?" thought Harry, turning over on his bed. "It'd give them a reason to be even more vile." His eyes began to fill with tears. He angrily wiped them away. Harry stared at the repaired mirror Sirius had given him. Sometimes he would hopefully say Sirius' name into it, but he would only ever see himself. He received birthday presents from all his favorite people, as well as one from Luna. Harry still wanted to know how she found out his birthday, then again, it was probably in a couple hundred books. Luna had given him an interesting gold ball on a stand, that resembled a snitch with it's wings folded. He wouldn't have known what it was supposed to be if she hadn't included a note.
Harry,
This is a pocket quidditch stadium. When you tap the top, a quidditch stadium appears, and you can watch games. You choose who plays, and you can even create your own team. It has authentic commentary and cheering and booing, too. Have a nice rest of summer, and happy birthday. Luna Lovegood.
Harry wondered why Luna thought it necessary to include her last name. All the same, this was his favorite present. He received chocolate frogs from Hermione, Bertie Bott's beans from Ron, and Hagrid sent him a moving model of a hippogriff. Harry thought it was a first for Hagrid to give him a birthday gift that didn't try and bite him in half. Mrs. Weasley sent him a large box of the usual home made treats, and Fred and George sent him a Headless Hat, along with a comical picture of Umbridge being mauled by centaurs. He tacked that up on his wall as soon as he got it. It was a good way to make him laugh. Harry stared at Hedwig's empty cage. He lay back down and closed his eyes. He could hear the Dursley's arguing again. By the sound of it, Uncle Vernon had found a pack of cigarettes in Dudley's room. Harry smiled. He liked when someone besides himself got yelled at. He suddenly sat up in bed. He remembered the veil in the Department of Mysteries. Luna said there were spirits behind it. Although a lot of what Luna said was a little strange, Harry was sure he heard whispering, and could see the veil moving on it's own. Then, as though he was there again, he saw the duel between Sirius and Bellatrix. Sirius had been hit with a stunning charm. No the Avada Kadavra curse as he first thought. But now he saw the livid burst of red light as though it happened yesterday. He ran quickly to his desk and wrote three letters. One each to Ron, Hermione, and Luna. When Hedwig returned, he let her finish off her catch. Then he said,
"I need you to take these to Ron, Hermione, and Luna Lovegood."
Hedwig clicked her beak in response. Harry stroked her head. She flew off out the window and Harry watched her disappear into the growing darkness.
Harry didn't leave his room for two days, until he got the responses back. He half expected Hermione's to be full of protests and comments on breaking more rules than he could imagine. But her letter consisted of only three words Let's do it Harry hardly believed it was a letter from Hermione. Ron's letter was written with an air of worry, yet sent across the same message as Hermione's. Luna sounded thrilled. She repeated herself several times, saying it would be an honor and she would love to help in any way possible. Harry wrote again, telling them to meet him at the Leaky Cauldron on Tuesday. He sent them off with Hedwig right away. He told them not to mention it to their parents. On Monday, he received their answers. Luna said she could make it. So did Hermione. Ron said his mother would gut him alive when she found out, but said he would be there anyway. It's worth it. He's your only family, and I can say I died..er.."nobly" Harry laughed at that. Now all he had to do was get away from the Dursley's, who had ignored him more than usual, although Dudley, he noticed, was no where near as rude. That night, he took only his wand and snuck outside. The Dursley's were all watching a T.V. program, so he got out unnoticed. He stuck out his right arm and a violent purple triple decker bus appeared with a BANG. The conductor stepped out.
"Welcome to th-"
"I know" said Harry, a little ruder than he meant to.
"Ello 'Arry!" explained Stan, when he realized who it was.
"Hello Stan."
"Yer the fourth one yer age we picked up tonigh in't 'e Ern?"
Harry turned around quickly. Siting in the back and waving, were Ron, Hermione, and Luna. Luna was looking at him a little funny. She looked seasick, but she quickly returned to her dreamy look.
"Hey Harry" chorused the trio.
"Hey. Well, it's better we met here. We should talk about how we're going to-"
"I don't think we should announce what we're doing, or talk about it here." interrupted Hermione. Harry looked at all three of them in turn. He couldn't believe they agreed to help him. There was another loud BANG and they arrived outside the Leaky Cauldron.
"Good bye, 'Arry!" shouted Stan as they got off. The four of them walked into the Leaky Cauldron. Harry walked up to Tom.
"We'd like two rooms, beside each other, please." said Hermione, before Harry could open his mouth.
"This way." said Tom, sleepily. He led them upstairs and showed them two rooms. "Have a nice stay." and he walked back downstairs.
Harry noticed that Luna had a small bag with her, but ignored it.
"Harry, this is something we should do as soon as possible." said Hermione "We can leave early tomorrow morning. We can take the Knight Bus to that street where the visitors entrance is. Let's get some sleep. We'll need it." she yawned. There was a murmur of agreement from Luna and Ron. Harry and Ron stayed where they were, and Luna and Hermione went to the room next door.
"Night, Harry." yawned Ron.
"Good night." said Harry. It seemed like he had just fallen asleep when Harry felt someone shaking him violently.
"Harry!" said a hushed voice. "Harry, get up!" Harry opened his eyes to see Luna shaking him.
"Wha?" It took Harry a couple of seconds for him to remember where he was and why.
"He's up." said Luna with an air of triumph.
"Thanks Luna. I must have tried for ten minutes." came Hermione's voice from a corner. "We'd better get going."
They all walked outside. Luna held out her arm and with a loud BANG the Knight Bus appeared. Stan stepped out.
"Welcome t-"
"WE KNOW!" said the four of them.
"Ey, Ern. Look 'oo it is" he pointed at the four of them as they clamored on. Harry told Stan where they were going to shut him up. He handed him the money and walked to the back with the other three. There was another BANG and they were already there.
"Bye 'Arry and 'Arry's friends!" waved Stan. With yet another BANG, the bus was gone.
Harry led them down the alleyway, where they had all been just a little over a month ago. They came to the telephone booth. They all stepped in. The familiar female voice welcomed them. Harry interrupted her.
"Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley and Luna Lovegood, and it's none of your business why we're here."
"Thank you. Visitors, please take your badges."
Harry heard the clink and removed the badges and handed them around. The badge said "Harry Potter-Unspeakable"
They all pinned them on and felt the booth move. When they got to the lobby, it was empty. "Good" said Harry. They walked to the lift and pushed the button they needed. It took a while, then the voice announced their floor. Department of Mysteries. They got off and ran to the door.
"Harry, do you think it will be open?"
"I don't know, but we could try this." he pulled out the knife Sirius had given him.
"I thought that melted?"
"It did." said Harry. "Reparo works on everything, I guess." Harry didn't want to say it, but he doubted this would work. Surprisingly, when he slipped it through, the door swung open. He pocketed his knife. And pulled a roll of something out of his pocket.
"What's that?" asked Ron, pointing.
"It's tape." said Harry simply. He put a large "X" on the door before shutting it. When they shut the door, the room span. When it stopped, Harry's "X" was still intact.
"Clever idea, Harry." said Hermione. Luna wondered and opened a random door.
"I found it."
"What!?" exclaimed Ron, Hermione and Harry. They walked over, and sure enough, there it was. The veil, swaying ominously. The four of them walked down to it, Luna was clutching the bag Harry noticed earlier. They stood in front of it.
"Harry, are you sure about this? How will you get out?"
"Here." said Luna. She pulled a long thing of rope out of her bag. It seemed to be glowing. "Tie this end around your waist." she said dreamily. "When you need to come back, tug it twice, and we'll pull you out."
"You thought this through, didn't you" said Ron, very impressed. Luna just stared at him dreamily. Harry didn't care. He tied the end around his waist.
"Wish me luck."
"Luck" they murmured.
Harry turned to face the veil. He took a deep breath and stepped through. He felt like he was floating. There were blurred shapes around him, and they seemed to be pushing him toward something. Then he saw the only distinct figure. Sirius. Harry could see he was breathing. The spirits pushed him further, until he could reach Sirius. He grabbed him around the waist. "Thank you" he whispered. He tugged the rope twice and felt them pulling him in. When he reached the other side, he fell, still clutching Sirius.
"Is he-?" said Hermione in a worried voice.
"No" said Harry. "He's still breathing."
"Of coarse he is." said Luna. "They kept him alive, because they knew."
"Knew what?" asked Harry politely.
"Knew it wasn't his time to go." she said dreamily. Harry's eyes met Luna's. He smiled at her, and was sure she blushed in return.
"We need to get out of here." said Ron. He helped Harry lift Sirius. Then the five of them walked out. Harry's tape "X" was still there. Before they shut the door from exiting, Harry asked Luna to remove the "X". She did, and put the tape in her pocket. They were able to get out of the Ministry and back into the ally. As he and Ron staggared up the ally to the street, Harry felt the weight that had settled on him lift, and the missing piece fill. Sirius was alive. Harry smiled. He was about to attempt lifting his arm for the Knight Bus, when Hermione said,
"Here, you have your hands full." she smiled and threw out her arm. With the predictable BANG the bus appeared. Stan stepped out. But he apparently knew who it was, beacause he simply said, "'Ello again, Arry."
"Hi. Stan." Harry and Ron staggered onto the bus.
"'Oo is 'e?" said Stan, pointing at Sirius "A friend." said Luna. "He's been missing, and we just remembered where he said he'd go if he wanted to get away."
Stan looked at Sirius with a worried expression. "He's only friegnted." Luna said in her dreamy voice. They all walked to the back. Hermione then ran back to the front.
"We're going to the Burrow." she smiled at Stan. He nodded. Hermion
"Bye, Arry!" shouted Stan.
"Bye, Stan" said Harry. Luna and Hermione walked in front of Harry and Ron, who were still having a bit of trouble with Sirius. They finally got up to the house and went inside. They had just lain Sirius on the couch when Mrs. Weasley came downstairs. She apparently heard the bang from the Knight Bus, and cam down to investigate.
"RONALD WEASLEY! WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN!? I WAS WORRIED SICK! GONE SINCE LATE MONDAY NIGHT!"
"Mom, I had to-" began Ron, but She cut him off.
"What was so important? Hmm?" Ron stepped aside. Hermione, Luna and Harry followed suite so Sirius was visible. She gave a gasp.
"But I thought-" she stopped. She smiled. Harry's eyes filled with tears, but he did not wipe them away.
"Can you make a revival potion?" he asked Mrs. Weasley.
"Of course I can, Harry." and she bustled to the kitchen. Harry looked at his godfather. He was breathing deeply. Harry took his hand and hoped the potion would work. Ten minutes later, Mrs. Weasley came back in.
"Hold him up, dear." she said to Harry. Harry lifted up Sirius' head and Mrs. Weasley poured the potion into his mouth. It took a couple of seconds for it to work. Then Sirius suddenly opened his eyes. He looked around at the people staring down at him. Then he looked at Harry, who hugged him tightly. Sirius returned the hug. Both of them had tears in their eyes.
"I don't want to spoil the moment," said Mrs. Weasley, "but Harry, we need to get your things. Sirius, will you stay here and watch them?" she indicated the other three.
"Of course, Molly." he smiled.
"And if the others wake up, tell them where I went." Sirius nodded. Mrs. Weasley led Harry out the door. "We'll take the Knight Bus." she said as they walked down the path. Harry laughed. He resisted his urge to count how many times he'd been on the bus in the past twenty four hours. Mrs. Weasley held out her arm and the bus arrived with the BANG. Stan stepped off.
"'Ello, 'Arry." he winked. Harry smiled. He and Mrs. Weasley sat down. "Where are you goin'?" he asked.
"Privet Drive." Harry said dully. Mrs. Weasley smiled at Stan.
There was another BANG and the were rolling down Magnolia Crescent. Harry stared out the window in the ally where he first saw Sirius. Stan was thinking along the same lines, because he said, "This is where we first picked you up, in't it, 'Arry?"
"Yeah it is." Harry smiled. They stopped on Privet Drive, right near the Dursley's house. Harry opened the front door and walked in.
"And where have you been?" bellowed Uncle Vernon.
"Like you care." snarled Harry. He ignored his uncle about to retort and stomped up the stairs. He opened his door. Hedwig flew over to him and nipped his ear. "Hey, Hedwig." he began to stroke her beak. He was about to help Mrs. Weasley, when she said,
"Harry, you take a break." she had it all packed in two minutes. "Ready to go?" Harry nodded. "Locomotor trunk." Harry's trunk began to float. Harry grabbed Hedwig's cage. His remaining birthday presents were packed, all but Luna's, which he pocketed and followed Mrs. Weasley out the door. Uncle Vernon was about to shout again, but Harry slammed the door behind him. At the end of the driveway, Mrs. Weasley hailed the Knight Bus again. It came and Stan hopped out happily. Harry and Mrs. Weasley stepped on and told him where they were going. A minute later, they were at the Burrow.
"Bye, Stan." smiled Harry. He happily hopped off and went back to the house. When they walked inside, Sirius was lounging on the couch, Hermione on a chair, and Luna was laying on the floor staring dreamily at the ceiling. "Aren't the others up yet?" asked Mrs. Weasley. Sirius shook his head. "They'll get up soon." she shrugged and took the locomotor charm of harry's trunk. It landed with a soft thud on the floor. Hedwig flew off Harry's shoulder and landed on Sirius' who began to stroke her absentmindedly. Ten minutes later, two loud cracks announced the arrival of Fred and George downstairs. They both looked confusedly at Sirius. He smiled at them. A few minutes later, Ginny ran down the stairs. She gaped at Sirius, who gave his bark like laugh. Harry smiled.
"I thought that, never mind." she said.
"Hey, Harry, like your birthday present?" George asked him.
"Yeah, I did. I especially liked the picture." he laughed at the thought of it. "What else did you get?" asked Fred.
Harry thought for a second. "The usual fro your mom, Ron and Hermione sent me candy, Hagrid sent me a moving model of a hippogriff-"
"Wow, something not dangerous" said Fred in awe.
Harry laughed. "And I got this from Luna." He pulled out his Pocket Quidditch Stadium. Luna smiled broadly.
"What is it?" asked the twins. Harry tapped the top and the stadium appeared. Fred George, and Ron gaped.
Harry thought for a second, and said, "Bulgaria versus Ireland, favorable."
"Why'd you say 'favorable' after Ireland?" asked George as players zoomed out onto the field as their names were called.
"That means it's the team I'm supporting, and I want the cheering louder for them." The invisible crowd roared with applause, as the commentator said, "Bulgaria, zero, Ireland, ten."
"Wow, that is so cool." said Ron. Harry tapped the top again and the stadium disappeared. He pocketed it again. Mrs. Weasley walked in.
"Since you bed heads slept so late-" she stared pointedly at Ginny and the twins,"We're having lunch. Come on, all of. You too, Sirius."
Sirius smiled and stood up. "Thanks Molly. "
Harry realized Sirius' wand was clutched in his hand. Sirius seemed to realize too because he pocketed it. Hedwig was swaying on his shoulder. After lunch, they spent the rest of the day playing quidditch.
The summer ended to quickly for Harry. Their new supplies were purchased, and they were ready to go. Luna had stayed at the Weasley's. Her stuff was sent, somehow, via floo powder. They were going to take the Knight Bus to King's Cross. Stan smiled at them all. Mr. Weasley stayed behind. Before they left, Sirius pulled Harry aside.
"Remember, I'm always here for you. And you have the two way mirror if you ever need to talk." He smiled at Harry. Harry thought he would use it. The ride to King's Cross took about ten minutes, and they had five to get on the train when they arrived. They went through the barrier at once, as there was only five of them. They all got a compartment to themselves.
"Aren't prefects supposed to go up front?" asked Harry.
"That's only new prefects." said Hermione, taking a seat across from Harry. Luna sat beside Harry, Ginny beside Hermione, and Ron on Harry's left. The ride there was fun. They ate chocolate frogs, and swapped cards. Some while later, their compartment door slid open, and Draco Malfoy, flocked by Crabbe and Goyle, walked in. They had walked in on an interesting scene. Luna had invented a game. You try and take one of someone's chocolate frog cards. If they catch you, they have to wrestle you for it. It's always more fun with at least four people, because when someone's wrestling for their card, the other cheer one of the people on. Draco walked in as Luna was trying to retrieve her stolen card from Harry.
"Sorry, did we interrupt something?" sneered Malfoy.
Harry stopped struggling, so did Luna. The card fell unnoticed to the floor.
"Mind your business, Death eater boy" spat Luna.
Draco looked like he wanted nothing more than to rip Luna from limb to limb. "You don't know what your talking about" he retorted.
"Oh, don't I?" said Luna dreamily.
"You believe Potter." said Malfoy, simply.
"Why shouldn't I? Why would he lie about something like that?"
"Because he's an attention seeking git" spat Malfoy. It happened very fast. Luna's face drained of color and she attacked Malfoy. When Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione managed to pull her off, Malfoy had four deep cuts across his face, which were bleeding freely. Color returned fully to his face, as he ran from the compartment, leaving Crabbe and Goyle standing stupidly for a moment or two.
"You better go" said Luna, adopting her dreamy voice again. "He needs people like you, or he's just talk." they walked away. Luna was still breathing heavily. The four were staring at her.
"Luna, what did you do that for?" asked Ron, surprised, yet shaken slightly.
"I don't like when people pick on others for no reason, other than that they themselves are gits." she said simply. Harry was a little taken aback. They continued their game of "Frog Wrestle" until Hermione said they should change. They did so, and ten minutes later, the train stopped. They all hopped off, but Luna said,"Harry, can I talk to you?"
"Are you coming?" Hermione asked.
"I'll be right there." said Harry. Hermione and the others left, and Harry turned to Luna. "What's up?"
Luna stared at him for a second, and blurted out, "Will you go out with me?" Again Harry was taken aback. He watched her face turn red.
"Yeah, sure." said Harry. He smiled. Luna looked up at him
"You, you will?" her face began to go back to normal.
"Yeah. We better get going. We'll miss the sorting." Harry and Luna walked into the Great Hall together. At the Ravenclaw table, Luna said bye to Harry. Harry ran over to Ron and Hermione, and sat in between them.
"What did Luna what?" asked Ron.
"Nothing, really." said Harry. He didn't feel like telling them yet.
Professor McGonagall came out with the Sorting Hat and the stool. She set it in front of the first years. As always, all eyes stared at the hat. Then a wide tear near the brim opened, and the hat began to sing:
Another year has come
And I hope you've not forgotten,
What I said a year ago,
And the warnings I had given.
Remember what I said,
About the bonds that you should form,
Try to unite the school,
Do not remain torn.
Gryffindor, and Slytherin,
Bond, become worthy friends.
As well as Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw,
And old friendships you should mend.
Look around corners,
Be careful what you do,
I have told you all I can,
Now it's time for me to sort you.
"A little short this year, isn't it" said Harry, as 'Allen, Lane' was sorted into Hufflepuff.
"Yeah, no kidding." said Ron. They waited patiently, until, finally, 'Weldon, Kate' was sorted into Slytherin. Dumbledore stood up, and waved for silence. "Another year. Let us all who have returned, take to heart what the Sorting Hat has said. And now, let the feast begin." he sat down. There was scattered applause as the food appeared on the tables. Harry noticed Luna had taken a seat at the opposite side of the table, so she could face Harry. He smiled when she waved. "Harry, do want some potatoes?"
"What? Oh. No." Harry began dishing out food onto his plate. After the meal, they all walked up to the common room.
"Titilandus" said Hermione as the approached the portrait of the fat lady.
"How'd you find out the password?" asked Harry.
"I ran into McGonagall. She told me." shrugged Hermione. They walked into the common room. They quickly took the best seats by the fire. They had only been there about five minutes when Professor McGonagall came in.
"Potter, a word with you." Harry got up and walked over to her. "Potter, you are the new Gryffindor quidditch captain. You are still seeker, but you'll need to find new team members." She smiled.
The next day at breakfast, they received their schedules. Harry shrugged at his. "Defense Against the Dark Arts first." said Harry. "Wonder who the new teacher is." After breakfast they all took seats at the front of the classroom, and saw someone they did not expect. "Lupin?!"
Lupin smiled. "Hello, you three. Dumbledore decided to hire me back. For more reason, than one." He stared pointedly at Harry. He leaned into them, so only they could hear. "Sirius, would like to thank you again. All three of you, as well as your friend, Luna. And I want to thank you to. Harry, Sirius sends a message: don't forget what he told you." Lupin smiled and stood up. When the class saw who the teacher was after they all sat down, they applauded for him. Lupin smiled again. "Welcome, class. Now, today, will be a bit of a review. I have brought in a boggart, so we can see if you remember what I taught you. Now, stand up, and move to the side of the class room." They did so, and he waved his wand, moving the desks and chairs so there was a large empty space in the middle of the room. "Harry, you first."
Harry stepped forward, his wand in his hand, ready to face the dementor. Lupin released the boggart, which instantly changed into something much different than a dementor. It shaped itself into Sirius' dead body. Cold and stiff, with blank staring eyes. Harry froze. Although he knew it wasn't real, it still hit him hard. Now he knew how Mrs. Weasley felt when trying to get rid of her boggart. How could this be funny. Nothing made death funny. Harry stood there, unable to move. Ron and Hermione both gasped. The color drained from Lupin's face. The class was staring at Harry's boggart. whispering things like,
"Why'd he be scared of him dead?"
"Yeah, I though that man tried to kill Harry?"
Ron stepped forward quickly. The boggart turned into a spider, at least ten feet tall. "Riddikulus!" he shouted, then the legs popped off and it rolled around on the floor. The rest of the class took it's turns. Harry walked to the back of the classroom and sat on a chair. He was breathing as though he had run very far in a short amount of time. When the bell rang, the class left. Harry stayed put. Lupin walked over to him, taking a seat beside him. "Harry, are you all right?" Harry sat there, frozen.
"I don't know." which was true. He wasn't sure. For most of the summer, he thought Sirius dead. Now that he had him back, he didn't want to lose him again. Lupin pulled some Honeyduke's chocolate out of his robes.
"Here." he said breaking off a piece and handing it to Harry. Harry took it and ate it.
"Harry, you know Sirius won't do anything rash, don't you?"
"He said that before, and then he came to the Department of Mysteries, because I had to be the hero-"
"Harry, you did what any one in your situation would have done. You thought the only real family you had was in danger. If I was you, I would have done the same thing. He won't be rash because, he almost lost you last time. And you're all he has. I don't think he'll risk it."
Harry nodded.
"You had better get to your next class." smiled Lupin.
The rest of Harry's day went just as badly. After dinner, Harry ran upstairs and grabbed his two way mirror. He sat on his bed, and said, "Sirius." very plainly into it. It fogged for a moment, then Sirius' smiling face appeared.
"How was your first day?" He saw Harry looked a little pale and added, "Harry, are you ok?"
Harry told him about his boggart. Sirius went as pale as Harry. But then, he seemed touched, and Harry thought he knew why. They talked for what seemed ages, then Hermione called him down to the common room. "I gotta go." He told Sirius.
"Ok. Bye, and, Harry?" Harry looked back at the mirror. "Never forget, I'm here for you." Harry smiled and tenderly put the mirror away. Hermione was knitting elf hats. Harry was surprised that they actually looked like hats.
"I'm so much better now, I can free so many more elves!" She beamed at him.
Harry couldn't hide it anymore.
"Er, Hermione?" She looked up. "Er, none of the elves, er, clean Gryffindor tower anymore."
"But the hats and scarves are always gone!" she protested, looking flustered.
"That's because Dobby cleans it himself. The others stopped cleaning it when they found your clothes. Dobby said they find them insulting." Hermione looked hurt. She set down her needles and slumped in the chair. "Hermione, I'm sorry"
"It's ok." said Hermione, sitting up with a smile. "I'll find something else to do." She stood up and started to walk to her dormitory. "See you tomorrow."
"See you Hermione." said Ron and Harry. After Hermione went upstairs, Ron turned to Harry.
"Why did your boggart change? I thought it was a dementor?" He looked at Harry with concern. Harry looked at him. He took a deep breath and said,
"I guess, it's beacause for most of the summer, I thought he was dead. Now that I know he isn't, I'm afraid to lose him again." His eyes glistened with tears again. He hastily wiped them away. Ron looked at him for a second then said, "We better get some sleep." He got up. "Are you coming?"
"I'll be there in a minute." Harry watched Ron go upstairs. He sat and stared at the fire. His first day back was the worst day ever. He kept thinking back to Defense Against The Dark Arts, and his boggart. He had been expecting a dementor. Seeing Sirius' body lying on the floor like that was too much for Harry. Harry watched the last ember go out, and he fell asleep where he was.
"Harry, wake up, breakfast ends in ten minutes!" it was Hermione. Harry opened his eyes. "Breakfast ends soon, come on." She walked out the portrait hole. Harry followed her.
"Hermione, wait up!" He ran over to her. "Is Ron already down there?"
"Yes. We better hurry."
They got down to the great hall five minutes before breakfast was over. They found Ron and sat down.
"Good to see you up." said Ron, grabbing more sausage. "You were out cold when I came downstairs." Harry smiled weakly and helped himself to toast and bacon. "First class today, Care of Magical Creatures." well, that's good, I guess." said Ron, looking at his schedule. They walked down the lawn to Hagrid's.
"Hey, Hagrid." said Harry.
"'Lo." Hagrid said dully.
Hermione got closer and whispered, "How's Grawp?"
"He's not violent, an' he speaks pretty good english now." beamed Hagrid. Then, Harry heard an unwelcome voice.
"Ugh! The brought the great oaf back!? I thought he'd be sacked for sure." drawled Malfoy. His usual cronies laughed. Harry e ran back to the back and sat down. With another BANG they were outside the Burrow. turned to Hagrid, who Harry noticed, had not flushed.
"That's detention, Mr. Malfoy." he turned to the rest of the class. "Right. Any way, today will be a bit of a review."
Harry didn't know how, but he knew Sirius was trying to contact Harry through the two way mirror, which was in his pocket. He stepped away for a second, and pulled it out. "Hello, Sirius." he smiled.
"Harry, tell Hagrid, to look up." Said Sirius, and he disappeared. Harry looked up and laughed. It was Buckbeak. Harry looked closer, and saw Mr. Weasley was riding him. He walked up to Hagrid, and simply said, "Hagrid, look up." Hagrid did so. Harry had never seen him smile wider. He was even sure Hagrid was crying. Mr. Weasley and Buckbeak landed near by. Buckbeak ran right over to Hagrid, who started to stroke him.
"Hagrid," nodded Mr. Weasley, "He's been cleared." he smiled and leaned in closer. "Sirius took good care of him."
"Tell 'im, tell 'im thank you." Hagrid smiled. Hagrid's plans for that day melted when Buckbeak came back. So that day, they just talked during his class.
"Double Herbology, next." They walked to herbology, and it was a review again. After lunch, all they had was double Potions. They unwillingly trudged to Snape's dungeons, and took their usual seats in the back.
"Today," came Snape's greasy voice from a corner, "We will be starting, a very difficult potion. The Polyjuice Potion." Harry, Ron and Hermione exchanged muffled laughs. The three of them had illegally mixed the Polyjuice Potion in their second year, with success. "I don't expect many of your potions to be," he looked sneeringly at Harry "a success. But we must try anyway." he sneered at Harry again. "Get into groups, of three." He waved his wand twice. The store cupboard opened, and that days instructions appeared on the board. "Begin." He began to walk around the room after they started. Ron, Harry, and Hermione were on a great start. At the end of the class, their's was the only one that looked as it was supposed to. Snape looked at them with disgust, and amazement. They bottled their potion, and Hermione put a tricky charm on their bottles, so that only one of them three could take it out for the next lesson, and so they couldn't break. The took them up front and put them away. They cleaned up all their supplies, and when the bell rang, ran out of the dungeons.
"One potion, that I can actually make." said Harry with a broad smile. "Snape will be confused." The three of them laughed. When they got inside the common room, they saw a notice on the board.
"First Hogsemeade weekend is, This weekend." said Hermione after looking at the board. "Wonder why it's so early this year."
"Who cares." said Harry and Ron.
The rest of the week went just like the first two days. Their Polyjuice Potion was looking good, and the entire class could fight their boggarts. Except for Harry. He sat in the back, wishing he would see the dementor glide toward him. On Saturday morning, before they went to Hogsemeade, Harry saw Errol. "Looks like you got a letter, Ron." he pointed. But Errol flew right over Ron's head and held out his leg to Harry. Harry took it and saw Sirius' writing.
Meet me where we did in forth year.
Harry showed the letter to Ron and Hermione. They both nodded.
Hermione searched the air. "Where's my Daily Prophet owl?" After breakfast, they lined up for Hogsemeade. When they got there, they walked down the road. Then Harry saw a big black dog, wagging it's tale happily. When they reached him, Sirius led them to the side of the building and turned back into himself. He pulled a letter from his robes and showed it to Harry. His eyes were brimmed with tears of happiness.
"Read this." he said. Harry opened it, and saw familiar loopy writing.
Sirius,
I am very pleased to inform you, that you have been cleared of all.....
That's all Harry needed to read. Sirius smiled at him. Harry showed Ron and Hermione the letter. They smiled in return. Hermione was still searching the sky. "What are you looking for?" asked Sirius. She told him about her Daily Prophet owl not showing up. Sirius smiled slyly and said, "I'm afraid that's my fault. I intercepted it."
"Why?" asked Hermione.
"Because of this." He pulled the Daily Prophet out of his robes. On the front page was his picture, along with the headline "BLACK, CLEARED OF ALL CHARGES."
"I rather would have had Harry find out, if I told him."
"That's understandable." Hermione shrugged.
"Lets go to the Three Broomsticks, my treat." said Sirius. Harry and the others nodded. They walked down the road and into the Three Broomsticks. They found a table, and Sirius went to get some butterbeers. Just then, Luna walked in. She wandered to their table and sat down. Sirius must have noticed her, because he brought back five butterbeers.
"Hi, Luna." said Hermione. Luna stared at each of them dreamily.
She stared at Sirius longer. "Your picture was in the paper." she said pointedly
"I know it was." said Sirius. "And I'm happy for the reason."
"Sirius, how did you get your name cleared?" asked Harry, sipping some butterbeer.
"Al thanks to Dumbledore. The people at the Ministry gave him some Vertuasim and he told them the whole story. Well, with all that's going on, they had to clear me." he paused for a sip of butterbeer. "Though, they seemed reluctant to." he smiled. Harry smiled too. Sirius took another sip of butterbeer.
"Where are you going to be staying? After you leave the Weasley's, I mean." asked Harry, sipping his butterbeer.
Sirius smiled. "At my mum's house. I went over there last night, and fixed it up. No more portraits, family tree, or house elf heads mounted on the wall. The Weasley's helped me fix it up, so it's as bright and cheerful as your house, Ron. Mainly thanks to Mrs., Weasley. Insisted on cleaning and repairing everything." he took another sip of butterbeer and sighed.
"So, how's Kreacher?" asked Hermione.
A wide smile spread across Sirius' face. "Died. Over the summer." Hermione looked suddenly hurt.
"Sirius! That's nothing to be happy about!"
"Relax, Hermione. He died happy. I found him lying in front of dear old mum's portrait. He served her till he died." then he added in a whisper only Harry could hear, "But he didn't die soon enough." He smiled. Harry laughed. Luna had been dreamily staring at the ceiling. Sirius pulled Harry aside.
"Harry, did your boggart always take, er, this shape?" he looked a little nervous.
"No." said Harry. "In third year it was a dementor."
"Do you know why it changed?" he looked nervous, if not anxious. Harry nodded. "Do you want to tell me?" Harry looked at his godfather. He nodded. Sirius looked at him intently, then Harry took a deep breath, and said,
"I think it's because, over the summer, I thought I had lost the only family, the only real family, I had. Then when we brought you back, I was really happy." Harry's eyes started to fill with tears. "And I'm just afraid to lose you again." he wiped his tears away. Sirius gave him a huge embrace. The others stopped their conversations.
"What's up, Harry?" asked Ron.
"Nothing." said Harry, smiling. Luna came out of her trance, and began to stare at Harry. Ron looked concerned. "Luna, are you all right?" She looked at Ron.
"Oh, yes I'm fine." she said in a dreamy matter. She picked up her butterbeer and drained it in two gulps.
"Oh, Harry, are you planning to stay at Hogwarts during Christmas?" Sirius asked.
"When I actually have family to spend it with? You're nuts." he smiled.
"Oh, that reminds me. Dumbledore said you can leave your aunt and uncle's, now that I'm cleared." Harry's wish had come true.
"Sirius, that would be so cool!" he smiled wider than he ever had. He was leaving the Dursley's, to be with his real family. Hermione looked at her watch.
"We better head back. See you, Sirius." she stood up. Luna wandered out the door past Hermione.
"Bye, you three." said Sirius.
Ron, Hermione, and Harry walked back to the castle.
"Great about Sirius, isn't it?" said Ron, happily. "Now you can talk about him anytime you want." When they got back to the castle, alot of thee students looked frightened.
"Did you hear?"
"Yeah, they cleared that Black guy,"
"I thought he was a mass murdered?"
"Who knows."
This didn't bother Harry, until someone he didn't know asked him if he was afraid Sirius would try and kill him again.
"No, I'm not afraid my godfather will kill me." the person's mouth fell open. "And anyway, in third year he was trying to kill my friend Ron's rat, which was really an illegal animagus, who betryed my parents and gave them to Voldemort." he said this all in one breath, and laughed at the look of confusion on the person's face.
"Oh, um, really, er, ok...." he walked away very confused. Harry walked back to the common room, and saw Errol tapping the window. He walked over and took the letter. He
opened it to find Fred and George's handwriting. They seemed to have taken turns writing.
Harry,
Great about Sirius, isn'i it?
Yeah. We helped him redo his house. It actually looks habitable.
One of the rooms we did will be yours. It's the best one.
Mainly because we designed it, dear old Fred.
Too right you are, George.
Well, talk to you later.
Yeah, maybe we'll see you in Hogsemeade.
Goodbye, Fred.
Goodbye, George.
Bye, Fred.
Fred, you don't have to be the last one tho sign it.
Then how will we sign it, George, oh brother of mine?
Like this, Goodbye, The Twins.
Wow, that's good.
Thank you, Fred.
Ok, here we go.
Goodbye, The Twins
Harry lauged. He showed the letter to Ron and Hermione.
"They had the argument, on the letter." said Ron. "That's new for them. Of coarse, they've never written a letter together, so-"
"I wonder which room is yours, Harry."
"How should I know." said Harry with a shrug. "Oh, Ron, I'm quidditch captain now."
"Brilliant!" sadi Ron, a smile spreading across his face."
"Yeah. We need to do tryouts sometime, for beaters and chasers. Ginny said she wants to be a chaser. But we'll need more people than that to try out."
"What about the Creevey brothers?" piped in Hermione.
"Maybe." said Harry. "Hermione, do you play?"
"I don't really know. I've never tried."
"Maybe you can try out." suggested Harry. "It might be fun."
"Ok, I'll think about it. Come on, we should head down to dinner." They walked out the door and down to the great hall. The three of them sat down. Harry began to help himself to some steak and baked potato. He had just taken an exceptionaly large bite of potato when Cho walked over. Harry pretended he hadn't seen her and continued chewing his potato.
"Hi Harry." she said. Harry help up a finger to indicate he was chewing. Cho laughd, but waited. When he was done, he said, "What's up?" Cho turned scarlet for a fraction of a second, then said,"Do you, er, want to go out with me, er, sometime?"
Harry looked at her for a second. Last year he would've said yes, but now, "No, that's ok. Thanks anyway though." he smiled, and went back to his potato. Cho slumped back to her table, while Ron and Hermione were gaping at Harry.
"I thought you were crushing on her?" demanded Ron.
"I was." siad Harry, swallowing some steak. "But now I'm not. What's the big deal?" he added, seeing the look on Hermione's face.
"Nothing." she said. "It's just, people don't just drop a crush. They drop it for reasons."
"And...?" said Harry, waiting for her to explain deeper.
"Well, isn't it obvious? You're hiding something from us."
"Like what?" inquired Harry. Luna and he hadn't had an official date, so did that still mean they were dating?
"You have a crush on someone else" she said simply. So she didn't know. Harry calmed down a little.
"Yeah, sure, whatever." said Harry, shoveling more baked potato into his mouth. Hermione was about to retort when Dumbledore stood up.
"Attention. Will the followin, please meet me in my office, after dinner." He pulled a length of parchment out of his robes, which looked vagly familiar to Harry. "Ahem. Harry Potter. Hermion Granger. Ronald Weasley. Ginny Weasley. Neville Longbottem." Neville suddenly turned scarlet. "Dean Thomas. Pavrti Patil. Padma Patil." Hermione gave a short gasp.
"It's the list of D.A. members!"
"What!?"
"Cho Chang. Lavender Brown. Luna Lovegood. Colin Creevey. Dennis Creecey. Eric Macmillian. Justin Finch-Fletchley. Hannah Abbott. Anthony Goldstein. Michal Corner. Terry Boot. Susan Bones. Zacharias Smith. Thank you." he sat back down.
"What does he want to talk to every one for?" asked Ron in a worried voice.
"Beats me" said Harry, eating more baked potato. "But he seemd to be smileing." After dinner, Harry, being the only one who had been to Dumbledore's office, signeled for the D.A. members to stay.
"Potter, come here." It was Proffesor McGonagall. He told everyone to wait and went to see her. Before he could open his mouth, she said, "The password's 'chocolate frog' good day." she turned on her heel and walked off. Harry shrugged and went to the scared looking D.A. members.
"This way." he signeled for them to follow him. When they got to the statue of the griffin, Harry said, "Chocolate frog." the griffin spang aside, admitting them.
"Chocolate frog?" he heard Dean Thomas mutter, "interesting password." They all stepped on to the moving staircase. When they reached the top, Harry knocked on the door.
"Enter." came Dumbldore's voice. They all clamored in. Harry saw all the spindle tables and intruments he had broken were repaired. Dumbledore smiled broadly. "So, how far did you progress last year?" they all gave him puzzled looks. "How far did you get, with your D.A. meetings?" he said. Everyone's eyes landed on Harry. Even Dumbledore's. They were waithing for him to speak.
"Er, pretty far, I guess." There was a murmer of agrrement.
"I can do stunning charms!" beamed Neville.
"We started Patronses even!" said Cho.
"We
leared more defence from Harry than we did from Umbridge." said Luna.
There were murmers of "Here here!" from most in the crowd. Dumbledore held up a hand to silence them.
"You have my full cosent to continue with yor meetings of" he paused and smiled. "Of the D.A. I shall inform the teachers what you are doing, and if you would like, put up a notice for any others who wish to join."
Harry was hesitant at first. Then he looked at the beaming faces of the members.
"We'll have to start over, or at least, sort of, but, ok." Dean Thomas punched the air in triumph, and Luna gave an excited squeek. Hermione looked as though she wanted to screem with happiness.
"Very well." said Dumbledore. "Off you go." he smiled as they left, and Harry was sure, that he received a small wink. .
On Sunday at breakfast, Harry went over to the Ravenclaw table, and tried to find Luna. When he did, he walked up to her and tapped her on the shoulder. She stopped looking at the ceiling to look at him.
"Hello, Harry." she said. She leaned in and kissed him on the cheek. Harry felt his face flush, but he quickly recovered.
"Sirius wants us to meet him in the Leaky Cauldron, tomorrow at eleven. We can meet in the great hall at around eight. Is that ok with you?" he waited patiently for a second.
She sighed and said,"Yes, I can make it. Meet you there. You better get to your table,"She nodded in the direction of his table. "Ron and Hermione just arrived."
Sure enough, when Harry looked in that direction, Ron and Hermione were sitting down. Noticing him at the Ravenclaw table, they waved.
"Have you told them?" Luna asked, dreamily. Her question was vague, but Harry knew what she meant.
"No, not yet." he murmured. To his surprise, Luna gave a sigh of relief.
"Good. I haven't told anyone either. Ok then, bye."
"Bye." said Harry, and he trooped of to the Gryffindor table, taking his usual seat in between Ron and Hermione.
"Whab wuz dat abo?" asked Ron, his mouth full of egg.
"What was that Ron?" said Hermione, sarcastically, holding a hand to her ear. "Didn't catch that."
Ron scowled, then swallowed hard. "What.....was.....that.....about?" he said, more sarcastically than he meant, because he laughed.
"I was telling Luna what Sirius said last night." Harry shrugged, helping himself to bacon and sausage.
"Oh." said Ron. He seemed disappointed. "So, um, yeah. How will we get there tomorrow?"
"I think Dumbledore'll take care of that." said Hermione, in her voice that made her sound as though she knew everything. Harry nodded in agreement, because his mouth was full of sausage. He received a letter from a handsome owl Harry didn't recognize. It was a message from Sirius, reminding them about the next day. Harry was awoken by Hermione shaking him violently.
"Harry!! It's seven fortyfive! Get up!"
Harry woke with a start. "Ok, but can I get dressed?"
"Of coarse you can, just do it quickly." she hurried out of the dormitory. Neville, Dean, and Seamus were still sleeping. Harry and Ron exchanged humorously confused looks. They finished getting dressed and walked downstairs.
"We better hurry to meet Luna." said Hermione, walking very fast when Harry's hand appeared from behind the portrait. They had to jog to catch up to her. "Where did you tell her we would meet her, anyway?" asked Hermione, turning to Harry.
"Great hall." he shrugged. The three of them walked to the great hall, and saw Luna standing, or rather sitting, waiting for them. When she saw them, she stood up and brushed off her robes.
"It's about time." she said sarcastically.
"Come on Luna, we're only," Harry looked at his watch. "Thirty seconds late, give us a break." he smiled.
"Ok." she said, a smile spreading across. "But next time, well, you'll find out." Hermione looked unbelieving, and Ron looked like he wouldn't ever be ready to 'find out'. They walked out on the grounds. Harry was less than surprised to see Hagrid outside his cabin with two threstrals.
"You'll 'ave to share 'em." he said with a yawn. Harry nodded and Hagrid walked back into his cabin. Ron was having trouble finding the right end on his threstral. Luna helped him up with a boost. Hermione was about to ask how she would get up, but figured it out on her own. She jumped up and sat behind Ron. Harry got up on his and Luna's threstral first. Then Luna carefully slid on hers, on leg on each side this time, holding Harry's waist. Hermione stared at her unbelievingly until she said, "You'll want to hold on, too."
Hermione did so. Harry leaned down to his threstral and said, "The Leaky Cauldron." then he turned to Ron's threstral. "You too. You'll be following us." the threstral. nodded to show he understood. Harry's suddenly lifted itself off the ground and began to fly. He was caught off guard, and would have slipped, if Luna hadn't been holding him around the waist. Hermione looked thankful for Luna's suggestion to hold on. The sun was rising higher as they flew toward Diagon Ally. At around ten forty, they landed in the courtyard behind the Leaky Cauldron. The bade their threstrals goodbye, and watched them fly away. They stepped in to find Sirius already there, waiting for them. He waved to them and they walked over.
"Hello, Sirius." they said in unison.
"Hello. How was your first week back?" They all mumbled, and Sirius laughed his bark like laugh. "Some people," he raised his voice, "still think I'm a mass murderer. Still think I support," he paused for a breath, "Voldemort. That name is slime to me. I want nothing more than to see him dead."
Harry still hadn't told anyone about the prophecy. Even Sirius. "So, Sirius, what did you want?" asked Harry.
"A couple of things. I never thanked you, Luna, properly for helping these three save me. I understand it was your rope that pulled us back out. Thank you."
Luna nodded and smiled dreamily.
"And, Harry, I wanted to show our new place. Well, it's still Grimwald Place, number twelve, and-" he dropped his voice, "The headquarters for the Order," his voice rose again. "But, it looks like an all new house. Mr. Weasley put a couple of nice charms on your room in particularly Haven't really seen it, though. Fred and George insist we see it together. They will meet us there around one."
"What will we do until then?" asked Hermione.
"Walk around Diagon Ally, of coarse. Harry, they have snitches for sale in Quality Quidditch Supplies now." Harry smiled, remembering the snitch he had accidentally stolen last year.
"I already have one. Last year, I accidentally stole one. It's in the bottom of my trunk. It drove Uncle Vernon nuts at the beginning of the summer. Started to fly around the house. I had to grab my broom and had to catch it. He would've killed me if Aunt Petunia didn't tell him not to." Sirius laughed.
"Well, ok. Let's just walk around and talk." They all stood up and walked outside. The roads weren't very busy that day. Although, most people were at work. They walked into Honeyduke's first. Harry walked over to look at some chocolate frogs. There was a jumbo-sized box, and it said that you had a possibility of finding a "special edition" card. Harry tried to think who'd be on a card like that, and picked up a box. He waled up and paid seven sickles and five knuts for the box.
"You like chocolate frogs, Harry?" Sirius asked with a short laugh.
"Yes, and it says you might get a special edition card inside." he said, flipping the box over. "That would be pretty cool." he added.
"How any frogs are in that box?" asked Hermione, looking interested.
Harry turned over the box. "It says, 'This box contains..... thirtyfive individually wrapped chocolate frogs.' Wow. That's a lot of chocolate frogs."
"Well, you have a pretty good chance, don't you?" said Hermione. "Mind you, there may only be two special edition' cards." she added.
"I know, but what if I got one? Who do you think will be on it?" Asked Ron.
"Maybe they'll do 'unsung heros' like the Longbottems." piped in Luna.
"That would be pretty cool. Neville would be proud. I'd give him the card if that's who is on it." said Harry. Harry reached up to push his bangs on his face, and Sirius noticed his scars. He grabbed Harry's hand.
"What happened?" he asked in a worried voice.
"Detention. With Umbridge. Made me do lines with this horrible quill that scratched it in my hand, and wrote it in my own blood." said Harry, as though he had memorized it, knowing Sirius would ask him one day. Sirius looked shocked.
The coolest day of the summer so far was coming to a close. The only person left inside was a skinny teenage boy with untidy black hair and glasses. These days, Harry Potter was constantly filled with fear. Although he knew Voldemort had been back for nearly two years, his encounter with him at the end of the previous school year had left him even more frightened. Harry also felt as if a piece of him was missing. After he had seen his godfather fall through the veil, he had a heavy weight on him. He sometimes blamed himself for what happened to Sirius. He still hadn't told his aunt and uncle what happened to him.
"And why should I?" thought Harry, turning over on his bed. "It'd give them a reason to be even more vile." His eyes began to fill with tears. He angrily wiped them away. Harry stared at the repaired mirror Sirius had given him. Sometimes he would hopefully say Sirius' name into it, but he would only ever see himself. He received birthday presents from all his favorite people, as well as one from Luna. Harry still wanted to know how she found out his birthday, then again, it was probably in a couple hundred books. Luna had given him an interesting gold ball on a stand, that resembled a snitch with it's wings folded. He wouldn't have known what it was supposed to be if she hadn't included a note.
Harry,
This is a pocket quidditch stadium. When you tap the top, a quidditch stadium appears, and you can watch games. You choose who plays, and you can even create your own team. It has authentic commentary and cheering and booing, too. Have a nice rest of summer, and happy birthday. Luna Lovegood.
Harry wondered why Luna thought it necessary to include her last name. All the same, this was his favorite present. He received chocolate frogs from Hermione, Bertie Bott's beans from Ron, and Hagrid sent him a moving model of a hippogriff. Harry thought it was a first for Hagrid to give him a birthday gift that didn't try and bite him in half. Mrs. Weasley sent him a large box of the usual home made treats, and Fred and George sent him a Headless Hat, along with a comical picture of Umbridge being mauled by centaurs. He tacked that up on his wall as soon as he got it. It was a good way to make him laugh. Harry stared at Hedwig's empty cage. He lay back down and closed his eyes. He could hear the Dursley's arguing again. By the sound of it, Uncle Vernon had found a pack of cigarettes in Dudley's room. Harry smiled. He liked when someone besides himself got yelled at. He suddenly sat up in bed. He remembered the veil in the Department of Mysteries. Luna said there were spirits behind it. Although a lot of what Luna said was a little strange, Harry was sure he heard whispering, and could see the veil moving on it's own. Then, as though he was there again, he saw the duel between Sirius and Bellatrix. Sirius had been hit with a stunning charm. No the Avada Kadavra curse as he first thought. But now he saw the livid burst of red light as though it happened yesterday. He ran quickly to his desk and wrote three letters. One each to Ron, Hermione, and Luna. When Hedwig returned, he let her finish off her catch. Then he said,
"I need you to take these to Ron, Hermione, and Luna Lovegood."
Hedwig clicked her beak in response. Harry stroked her head. She flew off out the window and Harry watched her disappear into the growing darkness.
Harry didn't leave his room for two days, until he got the responses back. He half expected Hermione's to be full of protests and comments on breaking more rules than he could imagine. But her letter consisted of only three words Let's do it Harry hardly believed it was a letter from Hermione. Ron's letter was written with an air of worry, yet sent across the same message as Hermione's. Luna sounded thrilled. She repeated herself several times, saying it would be an honor and she would love to help in any way possible. Harry wrote again, telling them to meet him at the Leaky Cauldron on Tuesday. He sent them off with Hedwig right away. He told them not to mention it to their parents. On Monday, he received their answers. Luna said she could make it. So did Hermione. Ron said his mother would gut him alive when she found out, but said he would be there anyway. It's worth it. He's your only family, and I can say I died..er.."nobly" Harry laughed at that. Now all he had to do was get away from the Dursley's, who had ignored him more than usual, although Dudley, he noticed, was no where near as rude. That night, he took only his wand and snuck outside. The Dursley's were all watching a T.V. program, so he got out unnoticed. He stuck out his right arm and a violent purple triple decker bus appeared with a BANG. The conductor stepped out.
"Welcome to th-"
"I know" said Harry, a little ruder than he meant to.
"Ello 'Arry!" explained Stan, when he realized who it was.
"Hello Stan."
"Yer the fourth one yer age we picked up tonigh in't 'e Ern?"
Harry turned around quickly. Siting in the back and waving, were Ron, Hermione, and Luna. Luna was looking at him a little funny. She looked seasick, but she quickly returned to her dreamy look.
"Hey Harry" chorused the trio.
"Hey. Well, it's better we met here. We should talk about how we're going to-"
"I don't think we should announce what we're doing, or talk about it here." interrupted Hermione. Harry looked at all three of them in turn. He couldn't believe they agreed to help him. There was another loud BANG and they arrived outside the Leaky Cauldron.
"Good bye, 'Arry!" shouted Stan as they got off. The four of them walked into the Leaky Cauldron. Harry walked up to Tom.
"We'd like two rooms, beside each other, please." said Hermione, before Harry could open his mouth.
"This way." said Tom, sleepily. He led them upstairs and showed them two rooms. "Have a nice stay." and he walked back downstairs.
Harry noticed that Luna had a small bag with her, but ignored it.
"Harry, this is something we should do as soon as possible." said Hermione "We can leave early tomorrow morning. We can take the Knight Bus to that street where the visitors entrance is. Let's get some sleep. We'll need it." she yawned. There was a murmur of agreement from Luna and Ron. Harry and Ron stayed where they were, and Luna and Hermione went to the room next door.
"Night, Harry." yawned Ron.
"Good night." said Harry. It seemed like he had just fallen asleep when Harry felt someone shaking him violently.
"Harry!" said a hushed voice. "Harry, get up!" Harry opened his eyes to see Luna shaking him.
"Wha?" It took Harry a couple of seconds for him to remember where he was and why.
"He's up." said Luna with an air of triumph.
"Thanks Luna. I must have tried for ten minutes." came Hermione's voice from a corner. "We'd better get going."
They all walked outside. Luna held out her arm and with a loud BANG the Knight Bus appeared. Stan stepped out.
"Welcome t-"
"WE KNOW!" said the four of them.
"Ey, Ern. Look 'oo it is" he pointed at the four of them as they clamored on. Harry told Stan where they were going to shut him up. He handed him the money and walked to the back with the other three. There was another BANG and they were already there.
"Bye 'Arry and 'Arry's friends!" waved Stan. With yet another BANG, the bus was gone.
Harry led them down the alleyway, where they had all been just a little over a month ago. They came to the telephone booth. They all stepped in. The familiar female voice welcomed them. Harry interrupted her.
"Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley and Luna Lovegood, and it's none of your business why we're here."
"Thank you. Visitors, please take your badges."
Harry heard the clink and removed the badges and handed them around. The badge said "Harry Potter-Unspeakable"
They all pinned them on and felt the booth move. When they got to the lobby, it was empty. "Good" said Harry. They walked to the lift and pushed the button they needed. It took a while, then the voice announced their floor. Department of Mysteries. They got off and ran to the door.
"Harry, do you think it will be open?"
"I don't know, but we could try this." he pulled out the knife Sirius had given him.
"I thought that melted?"
"It did." said Harry. "Reparo works on everything, I guess." Harry didn't want to say it, but he doubted this would work. Surprisingly, when he slipped it through, the door swung open. He pocketed his knife. And pulled a roll of something out of his pocket.
"What's that?" asked Ron, pointing.
"It's tape." said Harry simply. He put a large "X" on the door before shutting it. When they shut the door, the room span. When it stopped, Harry's "X" was still intact.
"Clever idea, Harry." said Hermione. Luna wondered and opened a random door.
"I found it."
"What!?" exclaimed Ron, Hermione and Harry. They walked over, and sure enough, there it was. The veil, swaying ominously. The four of them walked down to it, Luna was clutching the bag Harry noticed earlier. They stood in front of it.
"Harry, are you sure about this? How will you get out?"
"Here." said Luna. She pulled a long thing of rope out of her bag. It seemed to be glowing. "Tie this end around your waist." she said dreamily. "When you need to come back, tug it twice, and we'll pull you out."
"You thought this through, didn't you" said Ron, very impressed. Luna just stared at him dreamily. Harry didn't care. He tied the end around his waist.
"Wish me luck."
"Luck" they murmured.
Harry turned to face the veil. He took a deep breath and stepped through. He felt like he was floating. There were blurred shapes around him, and they seemed to be pushing him toward something. Then he saw the only distinct figure. Sirius. Harry could see he was breathing. The spirits pushed him further, until he could reach Sirius. He grabbed him around the waist. "Thank you" he whispered. He tugged the rope twice and felt them pulling him in. When he reached the other side, he fell, still clutching Sirius.
"Is he-?" said Hermione in a worried voice.
"No" said Harry. "He's still breathing."
"Of coarse he is." said Luna. "They kept him alive, because they knew."
"Knew what?" asked Harry politely.
"Knew it wasn't his time to go." she said dreamily. Harry's eyes met Luna's. He smiled at her, and was sure she blushed in return.
"We need to get out of here." said Ron. He helped Harry lift Sirius. Then the five of them walked out. Harry's tape "X" was still there. Before they shut the door from exiting, Harry asked Luna to remove the "X". She did, and put the tape in her pocket. They were able to get out of the Ministry and back into the ally. As he and Ron staggared up the ally to the street, Harry felt the weight that had settled on him lift, and the missing piece fill. Sirius was alive. Harry smiled. He was about to attempt lifting his arm for the Knight Bus, when Hermione said,
"Here, you have your hands full." she smiled and threw out her arm. With the predictable BANG the bus appeared. Stan stepped out. But he apparently knew who it was, beacause he simply said, "'Ello again, Arry."
"Hi. Stan." Harry and Ron staggered onto the bus.
"'Oo is 'e?" said Stan, pointing at Sirius "A friend." said Luna. "He's been missing, and we just remembered where he said he'd go if he wanted to get away."
Stan looked at Sirius with a worried expression. "He's only friegnted." Luna said in her dreamy voice. They all walked to the back. Hermione then ran back to the front.
"We're going to the Burrow." she smiled at Stan. He nodded. Hermion
"Bye, Arry!" shouted Stan.
"Bye, Stan" said Harry. Luna and Hermione walked in front of Harry and Ron, who were still having a bit of trouble with Sirius. They finally got up to the house and went inside. They had just lain Sirius on the couch when Mrs. Weasley came downstairs. She apparently heard the bang from the Knight Bus, and cam down to investigate.
"RONALD WEASLEY! WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN!? I WAS WORRIED SICK! GONE SINCE LATE MONDAY NIGHT!"
"Mom, I had to-" began Ron, but She cut him off.
"What was so important? Hmm?" Ron stepped aside. Hermione, Luna and Harry followed suite so Sirius was visible. She gave a gasp.
"But I thought-" she stopped. She smiled. Harry's eyes filled with tears, but he did not wipe them away.
"Can you make a revival potion?" he asked Mrs. Weasley.
"Of course I can, Harry." and she bustled to the kitchen. Harry looked at his godfather. He was breathing deeply. Harry took his hand and hoped the potion would work. Ten minutes later, Mrs. Weasley came back in.
"Hold him up, dear." she said to Harry. Harry lifted up Sirius' head and Mrs. Weasley poured the potion into his mouth. It took a couple of seconds for it to work. Then Sirius suddenly opened his eyes. He looked around at the people staring down at him. Then he looked at Harry, who hugged him tightly. Sirius returned the hug. Both of them had tears in their eyes.
"I don't want to spoil the moment," said Mrs. Weasley, "but Harry, we need to get your things. Sirius, will you stay here and watch them?" she indicated the other three.
"Of course, Molly." he smiled.
"And if the others wake up, tell them where I went." Sirius nodded. Mrs. Weasley led Harry out the door. "We'll take the Knight Bus." she said as they walked down the path. Harry laughed. He resisted his urge to count how many times he'd been on the bus in the past twenty four hours. Mrs. Weasley held out her arm and the bus arrived with the BANG. Stan stepped off.
"'Ello, 'Arry." he winked. Harry smiled. He and Mrs. Weasley sat down. "Where are you goin'?" he asked.
"Privet Drive." Harry said dully. Mrs. Weasley smiled at Stan.
There was another BANG and the were rolling down Magnolia Crescent. Harry stared out the window in the ally where he first saw Sirius. Stan was thinking along the same lines, because he said, "This is where we first picked you up, in't it, 'Arry?"
"Yeah it is." Harry smiled. They stopped on Privet Drive, right near the Dursley's house. Harry opened the front door and walked in.
"And where have you been?" bellowed Uncle Vernon.
"Like you care." snarled Harry. He ignored his uncle about to retort and stomped up the stairs. He opened his door. Hedwig flew over to him and nipped his ear. "Hey, Hedwig." he began to stroke her beak. He was about to help Mrs. Weasley, when she said,
"Harry, you take a break." she had it all packed in two minutes. "Ready to go?" Harry nodded. "Locomotor trunk." Harry's trunk began to float. Harry grabbed Hedwig's cage. His remaining birthday presents were packed, all but Luna's, which he pocketed and followed Mrs. Weasley out the door. Uncle Vernon was about to shout again, but Harry slammed the door behind him. At the end of the driveway, Mrs. Weasley hailed the Knight Bus again. It came and Stan hopped out happily. Harry and Mrs. Weasley stepped on and told him where they were going. A minute later, they were at the Burrow.
"Bye, Stan." smiled Harry. He happily hopped off and went back to the house. When they walked inside, Sirius was lounging on the couch, Hermione on a chair, and Luna was laying on the floor staring dreamily at the ceiling. "Aren't the others up yet?" asked Mrs. Weasley. Sirius shook his head. "They'll get up soon." she shrugged and took the locomotor charm of harry's trunk. It landed with a soft thud on the floor. Hedwig flew off Harry's shoulder and landed on Sirius' who began to stroke her absentmindedly. Ten minutes later, two loud cracks announced the arrival of Fred and George downstairs. They both looked confusedly at Sirius. He smiled at them. A few minutes later, Ginny ran down the stairs. She gaped at Sirius, who gave his bark like laugh. Harry smiled.
"I thought that, never mind." she said.
"Hey, Harry, like your birthday present?" George asked him.
"Yeah, I did. I especially liked the picture." he laughed at the thought of it. "What else did you get?" asked Fred.
Harry thought for a second. "The usual fro your mom, Ron and Hermione sent me candy, Hagrid sent me a moving model of a hippogriff-"
"Wow, something not dangerous" said Fred in awe.
Harry laughed. "And I got this from Luna." He pulled out his Pocket Quidditch Stadium. Luna smiled broadly.
"What is it?" asked the twins. Harry tapped the top and the stadium appeared. Fred George, and Ron gaped.
Harry thought for a second, and said, "Bulgaria versus Ireland, favorable."
"Why'd you say 'favorable' after Ireland?" asked George as players zoomed out onto the field as their names were called.
"That means it's the team I'm supporting, and I want the cheering louder for them." The invisible crowd roared with applause, as the commentator said, "Bulgaria, zero, Ireland, ten."
"Wow, that is so cool." said Ron. Harry tapped the top again and the stadium disappeared. He pocketed it again. Mrs. Weasley walked in.
"Since you bed heads slept so late-" she stared pointedly at Ginny and the twins,"We're having lunch. Come on, all of. You too, Sirius."
Sirius smiled and stood up. "Thanks Molly. "
Harry realized Sirius' wand was clutched in his hand. Sirius seemed to realize too because he pocketed it. Hedwig was swaying on his shoulder. After lunch, they spent the rest of the day playing quidditch.
The summer ended to quickly for Harry. Their new supplies were purchased, and they were ready to go. Luna had stayed at the Weasley's. Her stuff was sent, somehow, via floo powder. They were going to take the Knight Bus to King's Cross. Stan smiled at them all. Mr. Weasley stayed behind. Before they left, Sirius pulled Harry aside.
"Remember, I'm always here for you. And you have the two way mirror if you ever need to talk." He smiled at Harry. Harry thought he would use it. The ride to King's Cross took about ten minutes, and they had five to get on the train when they arrived. They went through the barrier at once, as there was only five of them. They all got a compartment to themselves.
"Aren't prefects supposed to go up front?" asked Harry.
"That's only new prefects." said Hermione, taking a seat across from Harry. Luna sat beside Harry, Ginny beside Hermione, and Ron on Harry's left. The ride there was fun. They ate chocolate frogs, and swapped cards. Some while later, their compartment door slid open, and Draco Malfoy, flocked by Crabbe and Goyle, walked in. They had walked in on an interesting scene. Luna had invented a game. You try and take one of someone's chocolate frog cards. If they catch you, they have to wrestle you for it. It's always more fun with at least four people, because when someone's wrestling for their card, the other cheer one of the people on. Draco walked in as Luna was trying to retrieve her stolen card from Harry.
"Sorry, did we interrupt something?" sneered Malfoy.
Harry stopped struggling, so did Luna. The card fell unnoticed to the floor.
"Mind your business, Death eater boy" spat Luna.
Draco looked like he wanted nothing more than to rip Luna from limb to limb. "You don't know what your talking about" he retorted.
"Oh, don't I?" said Luna dreamily.
"You believe Potter." said Malfoy, simply.
"Why shouldn't I? Why would he lie about something like that?"
"Because he's an attention seeking git" spat Malfoy. It happened very fast. Luna's face drained of color and she attacked Malfoy. When Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione managed to pull her off, Malfoy had four deep cuts across his face, which were bleeding freely. Color returned fully to his face, as he ran from the compartment, leaving Crabbe and Goyle standing stupidly for a moment or two.
"You better go" said Luna, adopting her dreamy voice again. "He needs people like you, or he's just talk." they walked away. Luna was still breathing heavily. The four were staring at her.
"Luna, what did you do that for?" asked Ron, surprised, yet shaken slightly.
"I don't like when people pick on others for no reason, other than that they themselves are gits." she said simply. Harry was a little taken aback. They continued their game of "Frog Wrestle" until Hermione said they should change. They did so, and ten minutes later, the train stopped. They all hopped off, but Luna said,"Harry, can I talk to you?"
"Are you coming?" Hermione asked.
"I'll be right there." said Harry. Hermione and the others left, and Harry turned to Luna. "What's up?"
Luna stared at him for a second, and blurted out, "Will you go out with me?" Again Harry was taken aback. He watched her face turn red.
"Yeah, sure." said Harry. He smiled. Luna looked up at him
"You, you will?" her face began to go back to normal.
"Yeah. We better get going. We'll miss the sorting." Harry and Luna walked into the Great Hall together. At the Ravenclaw table, Luna said bye to Harry. Harry ran over to Ron and Hermione, and sat in between them.
"What did Luna what?" asked Ron.
"Nothing, really." said Harry. He didn't feel like telling them yet.
Professor McGonagall came out with the Sorting Hat and the stool. She set it in front of the first years. As always, all eyes stared at the hat. Then a wide tear near the brim opened, and the hat began to sing:
Another year has come
And I hope you've not forgotten,
What I said a year ago,
And the warnings I had given.
Remember what I said,
About the bonds that you should form,
Try to unite the school,
Do not remain torn.
Gryffindor, and Slytherin,
Bond, become worthy friends.
As well as Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw,
And old friendships you should mend.
Look around corners,
Be careful what you do,
I have told you all I can,
Now it's time for me to sort you.
"A little short this year, isn't it" said Harry, as 'Allen, Lane' was sorted into Hufflepuff.
"Yeah, no kidding." said Ron. They waited patiently, until, finally, 'Weldon, Kate' was sorted into Slytherin. Dumbledore stood up, and waved for silence. "Another year. Let us all who have returned, take to heart what the Sorting Hat has said. And now, let the feast begin." he sat down. There was scattered applause as the food appeared on the tables. Harry noticed Luna had taken a seat at the opposite side of the table, so she could face Harry. He smiled when she waved. "Harry, do want some potatoes?"
"What? Oh. No." Harry began dishing out food onto his plate. After the meal, they all walked up to the common room.
"Titilandus" said Hermione as the approached the portrait of the fat lady.
"How'd you find out the password?" asked Harry.
"I ran into McGonagall. She told me." shrugged Hermione. They walked into the common room. They quickly took the best seats by the fire. They had only been there about five minutes when Professor McGonagall came in.
"Potter, a word with you." Harry got up and walked over to her. "Potter, you are the new Gryffindor quidditch captain. You are still seeker, but you'll need to find new team members." She smiled.
The next day at breakfast, they received their schedules. Harry shrugged at his. "Defense Against the Dark Arts first." said Harry. "Wonder who the new teacher is." After breakfast they all took seats at the front of the classroom, and saw someone they did not expect. "Lupin?!"
Lupin smiled. "Hello, you three. Dumbledore decided to hire me back. For more reason, than one." He stared pointedly at Harry. He leaned into them, so only they could hear. "Sirius, would like to thank you again. All three of you, as well as your friend, Luna. And I want to thank you to. Harry, Sirius sends a message: don't forget what he told you." Lupin smiled and stood up. When the class saw who the teacher was after they all sat down, they applauded for him. Lupin smiled again. "Welcome, class. Now, today, will be a bit of a review. I have brought in a boggart, so we can see if you remember what I taught you. Now, stand up, and move to the side of the class room." They did so, and he waved his wand, moving the desks and chairs so there was a large empty space in the middle of the room. "Harry, you first."
Harry stepped forward, his wand in his hand, ready to face the dementor. Lupin released the boggart, which instantly changed into something much different than a dementor. It shaped itself into Sirius' dead body. Cold and stiff, with blank staring eyes. Harry froze. Although he knew it wasn't real, it still hit him hard. Now he knew how Mrs. Weasley felt when trying to get rid of her boggart. How could this be funny. Nothing made death funny. Harry stood there, unable to move. Ron and Hermione both gasped. The color drained from Lupin's face. The class was staring at Harry's boggart. whispering things like,
"Why'd he be scared of him dead?"
"Yeah, I though that man tried to kill Harry?"
Ron stepped forward quickly. The boggart turned into a spider, at least ten feet tall. "Riddikulus!" he shouted, then the legs popped off and it rolled around on the floor. The rest of the class took it's turns. Harry walked to the back of the classroom and sat on a chair. He was breathing as though he had run very far in a short amount of time. When the bell rang, the class left. Harry stayed put. Lupin walked over to him, taking a seat beside him. "Harry, are you all right?" Harry sat there, frozen.
"I don't know." which was true. He wasn't sure. For most of the summer, he thought Sirius dead. Now that he had him back, he didn't want to lose him again. Lupin pulled some Honeyduke's chocolate out of his robes.
"Here." he said breaking off a piece and handing it to Harry. Harry took it and ate it.
"Harry, you know Sirius won't do anything rash, don't you?"
"He said that before, and then he came to the Department of Mysteries, because I had to be the hero-"
"Harry, you did what any one in your situation would have done. You thought the only real family you had was in danger. If I was you, I would have done the same thing. He won't be rash because, he almost lost you last time. And you're all he has. I don't think he'll risk it."
Harry nodded.
"You had better get to your next class." smiled Lupin.
The rest of Harry's day went just as badly. After dinner, Harry ran upstairs and grabbed his two way mirror. He sat on his bed, and said, "Sirius." very plainly into it. It fogged for a moment, then Sirius' smiling face appeared.
"How was your first day?" He saw Harry looked a little pale and added, "Harry, are you ok?"
Harry told him about his boggart. Sirius went as pale as Harry. But then, he seemed touched, and Harry thought he knew why. They talked for what seemed ages, then Hermione called him down to the common room. "I gotta go." He told Sirius.
"Ok. Bye, and, Harry?" Harry looked back at the mirror. "Never forget, I'm here for you." Harry smiled and tenderly put the mirror away. Hermione was knitting elf hats. Harry was surprised that they actually looked like hats.
"I'm so much better now, I can free so many more elves!" She beamed at him.
Harry couldn't hide it anymore.
"Er, Hermione?" She looked up. "Er, none of the elves, er, clean Gryffindor tower anymore."
"But the hats and scarves are always gone!" she protested, looking flustered.
"That's because Dobby cleans it himself. The others stopped cleaning it when they found your clothes. Dobby said they find them insulting." Hermione looked hurt. She set down her needles and slumped in the chair. "Hermione, I'm sorry"
"It's ok." said Hermione, sitting up with a smile. "I'll find something else to do." She stood up and started to walk to her dormitory. "See you tomorrow."
"See you Hermione." said Ron and Harry. After Hermione went upstairs, Ron turned to Harry.
"Why did your boggart change? I thought it was a dementor?" He looked at Harry with concern. Harry looked at him. He took a deep breath and said,
"I guess, it's beacause for most of the summer, I thought he was dead. Now that I know he isn't, I'm afraid to lose him again." His eyes glistened with tears again. He hastily wiped them away. Ron looked at him for a second then said, "We better get some sleep." He got up. "Are you coming?"
"I'll be there in a minute." Harry watched Ron go upstairs. He sat and stared at the fire. His first day back was the worst day ever. He kept thinking back to Defense Against The Dark Arts, and his boggart. He had been expecting a dementor. Seeing Sirius' body lying on the floor like that was too much for Harry. Harry watched the last ember go out, and he fell asleep where he was.
"Harry, wake up, breakfast ends in ten minutes!" it was Hermione. Harry opened his eyes. "Breakfast ends soon, come on." She walked out the portrait hole. Harry followed her.
"Hermione, wait up!" He ran over to her. "Is Ron already down there?"
"Yes. We better hurry."
They got down to the great hall five minutes before breakfast was over. They found Ron and sat down.
"Good to see you up." said Ron, grabbing more sausage. "You were out cold when I came downstairs." Harry smiled weakly and helped himself to toast and bacon. "First class today, Care of Magical Creatures." well, that's good, I guess." said Ron, looking at his schedule. They walked down the lawn to Hagrid's.
"Hey, Hagrid." said Harry.
"'Lo." Hagrid said dully.
Hermione got closer and whispered, "How's Grawp?"
"He's not violent, an' he speaks pretty good english now." beamed Hagrid. Then, Harry heard an unwelcome voice.
"Ugh! The brought the great oaf back!? I thought he'd be sacked for sure." drawled Malfoy. His usual cronies laughed. Harry e ran back to the back and sat down. With another BANG they were outside the Burrow. turned to Hagrid, who Harry noticed, had not flushed.
"That's detention, Mr. Malfoy." he turned to the rest of the class. "Right. Any way, today will be a bit of a review."
Harry didn't know how, but he knew Sirius was trying to contact Harry through the two way mirror, which was in his pocket. He stepped away for a second, and pulled it out. "Hello, Sirius." he smiled.
"Harry, tell Hagrid, to look up." Said Sirius, and he disappeared. Harry looked up and laughed. It was Buckbeak. Harry looked closer, and saw Mr. Weasley was riding him. He walked up to Hagrid, and simply said, "Hagrid, look up." Hagrid did so. Harry had never seen him smile wider. He was even sure Hagrid was crying. Mr. Weasley and Buckbeak landed near by. Buckbeak ran right over to Hagrid, who started to stroke him.
"Hagrid," nodded Mr. Weasley, "He's been cleared." he smiled and leaned in closer. "Sirius took good care of him."
"Tell 'im, tell 'im thank you." Hagrid smiled. Hagrid's plans for that day melted when Buckbeak came back. So that day, they just talked during his class.
"Double Herbology, next." They walked to herbology, and it was a review again. After lunch, all they had was double Potions. They unwillingly trudged to Snape's dungeons, and took their usual seats in the back.
"Today," came Snape's greasy voice from a corner, "We will be starting, a very difficult potion. The Polyjuice Potion." Harry, Ron and Hermione exchanged muffled laughs. The three of them had illegally mixed the Polyjuice Potion in their second year, with success. "I don't expect many of your potions to be," he looked sneeringly at Harry "a success. But we must try anyway." he sneered at Harry again. "Get into groups, of three." He waved his wand twice. The store cupboard opened, and that days instructions appeared on the board. "Begin." He began to walk around the room after they started. Ron, Harry, and Hermione were on a great start. At the end of the class, their's was the only one that looked as it was supposed to. Snape looked at them with disgust, and amazement. They bottled their potion, and Hermione put a tricky charm on their bottles, so that only one of them three could take it out for the next lesson, and so they couldn't break. The took them up front and put them away. They cleaned up all their supplies, and when the bell rang, ran out of the dungeons.
"One potion, that I can actually make." said Harry with a broad smile. "Snape will be confused." The three of them laughed. When they got inside the common room, they saw a notice on the board.
"First Hogsemeade weekend is, This weekend." said Hermione after looking at the board. "Wonder why it's so early this year."
"Who cares." said Harry and Ron.
The rest of the week went just like the first two days. Their Polyjuice Potion was looking good, and the entire class could fight their boggarts. Except for Harry. He sat in the back, wishing he would see the dementor glide toward him. On Saturday morning, before they went to Hogsemeade, Harry saw Errol. "Looks like you got a letter, Ron." he pointed. But Errol flew right over Ron's head and held out his leg to Harry. Harry took it and saw Sirius' writing.
Meet me where we did in forth year.
Harry showed the letter to Ron and Hermione. They both nodded.
Hermione searched the air. "Where's my Daily Prophet owl?" After breakfast, they lined up for Hogsemeade. When they got there, they walked down the road. Then Harry saw a big black dog, wagging it's tale happily. When they reached him, Sirius led them to the side of the building and turned back into himself. He pulled a letter from his robes and showed it to Harry. His eyes were brimmed with tears of happiness.
"Read this." he said. Harry opened it, and saw familiar loopy writing.
Sirius,
I am very pleased to inform you, that you have been cleared of all.....
That's all Harry needed to read. Sirius smiled at him. Harry showed Ron and Hermione the letter. They smiled in return. Hermione was still searching the sky. "What are you looking for?" asked Sirius. She told him about her Daily Prophet owl not showing up. Sirius smiled slyly and said, "I'm afraid that's my fault. I intercepted it."
"Why?" asked Hermione.
"Because of this." He pulled the Daily Prophet out of his robes. On the front page was his picture, along with the headline "BLACK, CLEARED OF ALL CHARGES."
"I rather would have had Harry find out, if I told him."
"That's understandable." Hermione shrugged.
"Lets go to the Three Broomsticks, my treat." said Sirius. Harry and the others nodded. They walked down the road and into the Three Broomsticks. They found a table, and Sirius went to get some butterbeers. Just then, Luna walked in. She wandered to their table and sat down. Sirius must have noticed her, because he brought back five butterbeers.
"Hi, Luna." said Hermione. Luna stared at each of them dreamily.
She stared at Sirius longer. "Your picture was in the paper." she said pointedly
"I know it was." said Sirius. "And I'm happy for the reason."
"Sirius, how did you get your name cleared?" asked Harry, sipping some butterbeer.
"Al thanks to Dumbledore. The people at the Ministry gave him some Vertuasim and he told them the whole story. Well, with all that's going on, they had to clear me." he paused for a sip of butterbeer. "Though, they seemed reluctant to." he smiled. Harry smiled too. Sirius took another sip of butterbeer.
"Where are you going to be staying? After you leave the Weasley's, I mean." asked Harry, sipping his butterbeer.
Sirius smiled. "At my mum's house. I went over there last night, and fixed it up. No more portraits, family tree, or house elf heads mounted on the wall. The Weasley's helped me fix it up, so it's as bright and cheerful as your house, Ron. Mainly thanks to Mrs., Weasley. Insisted on cleaning and repairing everything." he took another sip of butterbeer and sighed.
"So, how's Kreacher?" asked Hermione.
A wide smile spread across Sirius' face. "Died. Over the summer." Hermione looked suddenly hurt.
"Sirius! That's nothing to be happy about!"
"Relax, Hermione. He died happy. I found him lying in front of dear old mum's portrait. He served her till he died." then he added in a whisper only Harry could hear, "But he didn't die soon enough." He smiled. Harry laughed. Luna had been dreamily staring at the ceiling. Sirius pulled Harry aside.
"Harry, did your boggart always take, er, this shape?" he looked a little nervous.
"No." said Harry. "In third year it was a dementor."
"Do you know why it changed?" he looked nervous, if not anxious. Harry nodded. "Do you want to tell me?" Harry looked at his godfather. He nodded. Sirius looked at him intently, then Harry took a deep breath, and said,
"I think it's because, over the summer, I thought I had lost the only family, the only real family, I had. Then when we brought you back, I was really happy." Harry's eyes started to fill with tears. "And I'm just afraid to lose you again." he wiped his tears away. Sirius gave him a huge embrace. The others stopped their conversations.
"What's up, Harry?" asked Ron.
"Nothing." said Harry, smiling. Luna came out of her trance, and began to stare at Harry. Ron looked concerned. "Luna, are you all right?" She looked at Ron.
"Oh, yes I'm fine." she said in a dreamy matter. She picked up her butterbeer and drained it in two gulps.
"Oh, Harry, are you planning to stay at Hogwarts during Christmas?" Sirius asked.
"When I actually have family to spend it with? You're nuts." he smiled.
"Oh, that reminds me. Dumbledore said you can leave your aunt and uncle's, now that I'm cleared." Harry's wish had come true.
"Sirius, that would be so cool!" he smiled wider than he ever had. He was leaving the Dursley's, to be with his real family. Hermione looked at her watch.
"We better head back. See you, Sirius." she stood up. Luna wandered out the door past Hermione.
"Bye, you three." said Sirius.
Ron, Hermione, and Harry walked back to the castle.
"Great about Sirius, isn't it?" said Ron, happily. "Now you can talk about him anytime you want." When they got back to the castle, alot of thee students looked frightened.
"Did you hear?"
"Yeah, they cleared that Black guy,"
"I thought he was a mass murdered?"
"Who knows."
This didn't bother Harry, until someone he didn't know asked him if he was afraid Sirius would try and kill him again.
"No, I'm not afraid my godfather will kill me." the person's mouth fell open. "And anyway, in third year he was trying to kill my friend Ron's rat, which was really an illegal animagus, who betryed my parents and gave them to Voldemort." he said this all in one breath, and laughed at the look of confusion on the person's face.
"Oh, um, really, er, ok...." he walked away very confused. Harry walked back to the common room, and saw Errol tapping the window. He walked over and took the letter. He
opened it to find Fred and George's handwriting. They seemed to have taken turns writing.
Harry,
Great about Sirius, isn'i it?
Yeah. We helped him redo his house. It actually looks habitable.
One of the rooms we did will be yours. It's the best one.
Mainly because we designed it, dear old Fred.
Too right you are, George.
Well, talk to you later.
Yeah, maybe we'll see you in Hogsemeade.
Goodbye, Fred.
Goodbye, George.
Bye, Fred.
Fred, you don't have to be the last one tho sign it.
Then how will we sign it, George, oh brother of mine?
Like this, Goodbye, The Twins.
Wow, that's good.
Thank you, Fred.
Ok, here we go.
Goodbye, The Twins
Harry lauged. He showed the letter to Ron and Hermione.
"They had the argument, on the letter." said Ron. "That's new for them. Of coarse, they've never written a letter together, so-"
"I wonder which room is yours, Harry."
"How should I know." said Harry with a shrug. "Oh, Ron, I'm quidditch captain now."
"Brilliant!" sadi Ron, a smile spreading across his face."
"Yeah. We need to do tryouts sometime, for beaters and chasers. Ginny said she wants to be a chaser. But we'll need more people than that to try out."
"What about the Creevey brothers?" piped in Hermione.
"Maybe." said Harry. "Hermione, do you play?"
"I don't really know. I've never tried."
"Maybe you can try out." suggested Harry. "It might be fun."
"Ok, I'll think about it. Come on, we should head down to dinner." They walked out the door and down to the great hall. The three of them sat down. Harry began to help himself to some steak and baked potato. He had just taken an exceptionaly large bite of potato when Cho walked over. Harry pretended he hadn't seen her and continued chewing his potato.
"Hi Harry." she said. Harry help up a finger to indicate he was chewing. Cho laughd, but waited. When he was done, he said, "What's up?" Cho turned scarlet for a fraction of a second, then said,"Do you, er, want to go out with me, er, sometime?"
Harry looked at her for a second. Last year he would've said yes, but now, "No, that's ok. Thanks anyway though." he smiled, and went back to his potato. Cho slumped back to her table, while Ron and Hermione were gaping at Harry.
"I thought you were crushing on her?" demanded Ron.
"I was." siad Harry, swallowing some steak. "But now I'm not. What's the big deal?" he added, seeing the look on Hermione's face.
"Nothing." she said. "It's just, people don't just drop a crush. They drop it for reasons."
"And...?" said Harry, waiting for her to explain deeper.
"Well, isn't it obvious? You're hiding something from us."
"Like what?" inquired Harry. Luna and he hadn't had an official date, so did that still mean they were dating?
"You have a crush on someone else" she said simply. So she didn't know. Harry calmed down a little.
"Yeah, sure, whatever." said Harry, shoveling more baked potato into his mouth. Hermione was about to retort when Dumbledore stood up.
"Attention. Will the followin, please meet me in my office, after dinner." He pulled a length of parchment out of his robes, which looked vagly familiar to Harry. "Ahem. Harry Potter. Hermion Granger. Ronald Weasley. Ginny Weasley. Neville Longbottem." Neville suddenly turned scarlet. "Dean Thomas. Pavrti Patil. Padma Patil." Hermione gave a short gasp.
"It's the list of D.A. members!"
"What!?"
"Cho Chang. Lavender Brown. Luna Lovegood. Colin Creevey. Dennis Creecey. Eric Macmillian. Justin Finch-Fletchley. Hannah Abbott. Anthony Goldstein. Michal Corner. Terry Boot. Susan Bones. Zacharias Smith. Thank you." he sat back down.
"What does he want to talk to every one for?" asked Ron in a worried voice.
"Beats me" said Harry, eating more baked potato. "But he seemd to be smileing." After dinner, Harry, being the only one who had been to Dumbledore's office, signeled for the D.A. members to stay.
"Potter, come here." It was Proffesor McGonagall. He told everyone to wait and went to see her. Before he could open his mouth, she said, "The password's 'chocolate frog' good day." she turned on her heel and walked off. Harry shrugged and went to the scared looking D.A. members.
"This way." he signeled for them to follow him. When they got to the statue of the griffin, Harry said, "Chocolate frog." the griffin spang aside, admitting them.
"Chocolate frog?" he heard Dean Thomas mutter, "interesting password." They all stepped on to the moving staircase. When they reached the top, Harry knocked on the door.
"Enter." came Dumbldore's voice. They all clamored in. Harry saw all the spindle tables and intruments he had broken were repaired. Dumbledore smiled broadly. "So, how far did you progress last year?" they all gave him puzzled looks. "How far did you get, with your D.A. meetings?" he said. Everyone's eyes landed on Harry. Even Dumbledore's. They were waithing for him to speak.
"Er, pretty far, I guess." There was a murmer of agrrement.
"I can do stunning charms!" beamed Neville.
"We started Patronses even!" said Cho.
"We
leared more defence from Harry than we did from Umbridge." said Luna.
There were murmers of "Here here!" from most in the crowd. Dumbledore held up a hand to silence them.
"You have my full cosent to continue with yor meetings of" he paused and smiled. "Of the D.A. I shall inform the teachers what you are doing, and if you would like, put up a notice for any others who wish to join."
Harry was hesitant at first. Then he looked at the beaming faces of the members.
"We'll have to start over, or at least, sort of, but, ok." Dean Thomas punched the air in triumph, and Luna gave an excited squeek. Hermione looked as though she wanted to screem with happiness.
"Very well." said Dumbledore. "Off you go." he smiled as they left, and Harry was sure, that he received a small wink. .
On Sunday at breakfast, Harry went over to the Ravenclaw table, and tried to find Luna. When he did, he walked up to her and tapped her on the shoulder. She stopped looking at the ceiling to look at him.
"Hello, Harry." she said. She leaned in and kissed him on the cheek. Harry felt his face flush, but he quickly recovered.
"Sirius wants us to meet him in the Leaky Cauldron, tomorrow at eleven. We can meet in the great hall at around eight. Is that ok with you?" he waited patiently for a second.
She sighed and said,"Yes, I can make it. Meet you there. You better get to your table,"She nodded in the direction of his table. "Ron and Hermione just arrived."
Sure enough, when Harry looked in that direction, Ron and Hermione were sitting down. Noticing him at the Ravenclaw table, they waved.
"Have you told them?" Luna asked, dreamily. Her question was vague, but Harry knew what she meant.
"No, not yet." he murmured. To his surprise, Luna gave a sigh of relief.
"Good. I haven't told anyone either. Ok then, bye."
"Bye." said Harry, and he trooped of to the Gryffindor table, taking his usual seat in between Ron and Hermione.
"Whab wuz dat abo?" asked Ron, his mouth full of egg.
"What was that Ron?" said Hermione, sarcastically, holding a hand to her ear. "Didn't catch that."
Ron scowled, then swallowed hard. "What.....was.....that.....about?" he said, more sarcastically than he meant, because he laughed.
"I was telling Luna what Sirius said last night." Harry shrugged, helping himself to bacon and sausage.
"Oh." said Ron. He seemed disappointed. "So, um, yeah. How will we get there tomorrow?"
"I think Dumbledore'll take care of that." said Hermione, in her voice that made her sound as though she knew everything. Harry nodded in agreement, because his mouth was full of sausage. He received a letter from a handsome owl Harry didn't recognize. It was a message from Sirius, reminding them about the next day. Harry was awoken by Hermione shaking him violently.
"Harry!! It's seven fortyfive! Get up!"
Harry woke with a start. "Ok, but can I get dressed?"
"Of coarse you can, just do it quickly." she hurried out of the dormitory. Neville, Dean, and Seamus were still sleeping. Harry and Ron exchanged humorously confused looks. They finished getting dressed and walked downstairs.
"We better hurry to meet Luna." said Hermione, walking very fast when Harry's hand appeared from behind the portrait. They had to jog to catch up to her. "Where did you tell her we would meet her, anyway?" asked Hermione, turning to Harry.
"Great hall." he shrugged. The three of them walked to the great hall, and saw Luna standing, or rather sitting, waiting for them. When she saw them, she stood up and brushed off her robes.
"It's about time." she said sarcastically.
"Come on Luna, we're only," Harry looked at his watch. "Thirty seconds late, give us a break." he smiled.
"Ok." she said, a smile spreading across. "But next time, well, you'll find out." Hermione looked unbelieving, and Ron looked like he wouldn't ever be ready to 'find out'. They walked out on the grounds. Harry was less than surprised to see Hagrid outside his cabin with two threstrals.
"You'll 'ave to share 'em." he said with a yawn. Harry nodded and Hagrid walked back into his cabin. Ron was having trouble finding the right end on his threstral. Luna helped him up with a boost. Hermione was about to ask how she would get up, but figured it out on her own. She jumped up and sat behind Ron. Harry got up on his and Luna's threstral first. Then Luna carefully slid on hers, on leg on each side this time, holding Harry's waist. Hermione stared at her unbelievingly until she said, "You'll want to hold on, too."
Hermione did so. Harry leaned down to his threstral and said, "The Leaky Cauldron." then he turned to Ron's threstral. "You too. You'll be following us." the threstral. nodded to show he understood. Harry's suddenly lifted itself off the ground and began to fly. He was caught off guard, and would have slipped, if Luna hadn't been holding him around the waist. Hermione looked thankful for Luna's suggestion to hold on. The sun was rising higher as they flew toward Diagon Ally. At around ten forty, they landed in the courtyard behind the Leaky Cauldron. The bade their threstrals goodbye, and watched them fly away. They stepped in to find Sirius already there, waiting for them. He waved to them and they walked over.
"Hello, Sirius." they said in unison.
"Hello. How was your first week back?" They all mumbled, and Sirius laughed his bark like laugh. "Some people," he raised his voice, "still think I'm a mass murderer. Still think I support," he paused for a breath, "Voldemort. That name is slime to me. I want nothing more than to see him dead."
Harry still hadn't told anyone about the prophecy. Even Sirius. "So, Sirius, what did you want?" asked Harry.
"A couple of things. I never thanked you, Luna, properly for helping these three save me. I understand it was your rope that pulled us back out. Thank you."
Luna nodded and smiled dreamily.
"And, Harry, I wanted to show our new place. Well, it's still Grimwald Place, number twelve, and-" he dropped his voice, "The headquarters for the Order," his voice rose again. "But, it looks like an all new house. Mr. Weasley put a couple of nice charms on your room in particularly Haven't really seen it, though. Fred and George insist we see it together. They will meet us there around one."
"What will we do until then?" asked Hermione.
"Walk around Diagon Ally, of coarse. Harry, they have snitches for sale in Quality Quidditch Supplies now." Harry smiled, remembering the snitch he had accidentally stolen last year.
"I already have one. Last year, I accidentally stole one. It's in the bottom of my trunk. It drove Uncle Vernon nuts at the beginning of the summer. Started to fly around the house. I had to grab my broom and had to catch it. He would've killed me if Aunt Petunia didn't tell him not to." Sirius laughed.
"Well, ok. Let's just walk around and talk." They all stood up and walked outside. The roads weren't very busy that day. Although, most people were at work. They walked into Honeyduke's first. Harry walked over to look at some chocolate frogs. There was a jumbo-sized box, and it said that you had a possibility of finding a "special edition" card. Harry tried to think who'd be on a card like that, and picked up a box. He waled up and paid seven sickles and five knuts for the box.
"You like chocolate frogs, Harry?" Sirius asked with a short laugh.
"Yes, and it says you might get a special edition card inside." he said, flipping the box over. "That would be pretty cool." he added.
"How any frogs are in that box?" asked Hermione, looking interested.
Harry turned over the box. "It says, 'This box contains..... thirtyfive individually wrapped chocolate frogs.' Wow. That's a lot of chocolate frogs."
"Well, you have a pretty good chance, don't you?" said Hermione. "Mind you, there may only be two special edition' cards." she added.
"I know, but what if I got one? Who do you think will be on it?" Asked Ron.
"Maybe they'll do 'unsung heros' like the Longbottems." piped in Luna.
"That would be pretty cool. Neville would be proud. I'd give him the card if that's who is on it." said Harry. Harry reached up to push his bangs on his face, and Sirius noticed his scars. He grabbed Harry's hand.
"What happened?" he asked in a worried voice.
"Detention. With Umbridge. Made me do lines with this horrible quill that scratched it in my hand, and wrote it in my own blood." said Harry, as though he had memorized it, knowing Sirius would ask him one day. Sirius looked shocked.