Presents and a home
Eleven o'clock eventually rolled around and Harry and Icicle had sunk to the level of hiding in Lupin's study, flipping through some books and chatting about nothing in particular.
"Are you ok Harry?" asked Icicle "You have seemed kind of withdrawn and unhappy all evening."
"Is it really that noticeable?"
"Not really, I am just good at reading people's moods. So what is wrong?"
Harry took a breath and laid down on the sofa, "My mind had been jumping back and forth on if I want to go back to Hogwarts. I do love going to school but there were some things that happened last year that I really don't want to face at the moment."
Icicle closed her book and looked at Harry, "Well from what I see, you really don't have a choice. I've been told that your relatives aren't very fond of you so they definitely wouldn't want to deal with you all year long. Plus leaving Hogwarts would be giving up who you are and going against your destiny. You know you have a job to do and accomplishing it requires you finishing school."
Harry suddenly became irritated, "Who decides our destinies! I never asked for the death of my parents or for any of this!"
"Ummm…..from what I gather, destinies are basically goals that God sat for you before you were even born. They are what you could accomplish in your lifetime not necessarily what you will accomplish. You have the choice to go off and follow another path but in your case the world will basically be screwed without you. Human kind needs a few heroes. Some people are given the job of saving the world over and over again until the day comes that they finally lose in battle. You are one of those people."
Harry closed his eyes, "I know, I guess I have always know, but do you know what it is like having to carry the world on your own?"
"Yes I do," replied Icicle in a serious voice, "Other people have had it just as hard as you have. But it might make you feel better knowing that you will not have to carry the world alone. Dumbledore told me that you have some very smart, loyal and extremely powerful friends. You know that they will always be there by your side till the very end and you never know who else might be there to help you in the future. I mean Dumbledore, Snape, Lupin and Sirius could be there by your side or they might be dead. We all just have to take the blows as they come."
"I don't want anyone else to die because of me."
"Have you ever looked at the situation from the other side? Imagine what your death will do to your friends? It works both ways Harry. When someone dies the friends and family always think it is their fault for one reason on another."
Harry was sick of talking about this so he decided to change the subject, "So how did you meet Dumbledore?"
"Well through a series of weird events, Dumbledore took on the role as my guardian. You know……. he is the one that is responsible raising me as his own and all that stuff," said Icicle as she began looking for another book to flip through.
"Er.. I never really thought of any of the professors having families but you know it kind of makes since that they do."
"I don't think that any student really thinks about the personal life of their professors. It's not natural. I personally still seem to picture my teachers as some type of alien life form. I think McGonagall was married at some time, and a few other professors too."
"So what school do you go to?" asked Harry, "I haven't seen you at Hogwarts."
"Well I actually didn't find out I was a witch until a couple of months ago. Obviously I was magical but I spent most of my life living with a muggle family. Since I am behind I was put on this learning speed track all summer so that I can go into my 5th year this September."
"Have you been sorted yet?"
"Nope, not yet."
"Well what house do you want to be in?"
"Geeze, what is this?" sighed Icicle, "Harass the new person with a pile of questions? Anyway, I don't know what house I want to be in…. I guess I would probably get into either Gryffindor or Slytherin. Hufflepuff people are too slow for my taste. I would probably end up yelling at them after a while of their stupidity. Ravenclaw students would keep me mentally stimulated but they all have a stick up their butt when it comes to rules and I tend to not break rules but shatter them into itty bitty pieces. That leaves me with Gryffindor and Slytherin."
Harry made a face, "You don't want to get into Slytherin; those people are a bad lot to hang around. Most of them go evil and join Voldemort."
"Ahh not all of them go bad, it is just a stereotype. Plus isn't that a good reason to be in that house? I love going against the odds. It's a challenge that is worth someone's time."
The door to the study was thrown open and in the doorway stood a grinning Sirius holding a big black bag. "Hiding from everyone you guys?"
"What hiding? I have no idea what you are talking about," replied Icicle in a shocked tone, "Harry and I are under water basket weaving at the moment, can't you tell?"
"Oooo…..you must be Icicle, Dumbledore warned me about you. He said that you would probably give me a run for my money." replied Sirius with his classic marauder grin.
"Hey Sirius," said Harry before Icicle pulled Sirius into debate, "Is everybody gone?"
"Almost everybody but there are still some out there deciding both of your fates for the rest of the summer."
"Great," mumbled Icicle, "With my luck I will end up having to spend the rest of the summer with dear old Fudge."
"Well then you'll be glad to hear that Dumbledore has decided that you will be spending the next month finishing off your catch up schooling here in this house with me," replied Lupin as he walked into the door followed by Dumbledore and Moody.
"Thank you God…" breathed Icicle in a sigh of relief.
"Harry, you will be staying with Mr. Moody and his wife for the rest of the summer. I think that you could learn a lot from the real Moody" stated Dumbledore.
"Umm ok.." said Harry maybe I won't have to face Hogwarts again after all. After all I might have a heart attack by the end of the month. I can already hear him shouting constant vigilance all over the house.
"On another note, someone in this room is celebrating their birthday today," said Sirius as he opened the black bag and poured out a pile of birthday presents.
Harry sat there staring at the presents while his Godfather raised and eyebrow, "You didn't think that we forgot about your Birthday did you?"
"Actually," replied Harry, "I forgot that today was my birthday."
"Well then what are you waiting for," asked Sirius, "Rip open those gifts and see what you got."
An hour latter Harry sat on the floor under a pile of wrapping paper and gifts. Hagrid had sent him some treats for Hedwig and a book about snowy owls and how to train them. Hermione sent him another book titled Advanced Spells for a Wizard's Survival. Ron had sent him a basket filled with both muggle and wizard candies (how Ron got muggle candies was beyond him) and Dumbledore gave Harry a wand polishing kit as an inside joke of when Harry had to weigh his wand for the Triwizard tournament. But out of all the presents that Harry received the one that Remus and Sirius had given him was by far the most precious. To start it off Remus and Sirius had given Harry a pile of pranks telling him that he should try to get into another type of trouble this year. They also some how pulled a few strings and had found a picture of Lily, James, Sirius, Remus, Peter and another girl on what seemed to be graduation day. Harry made a mental note to ask who the lady was in private. "Thank you everyone," whispered Harry as he looked at the picture. Was Peter still on their side or had he become the traitor when this picture was taken?
Before Harry knew it he was swept up and rushed through some good-byes since it was late and everyone seemed ready to go to bed. Remus told him to take care and Sirius said that he better keep in touch or there would be hell to pay. Harry smiled grabbed all of his stuff and followed Moody to the fireplace. "The name of my house is Holly Fields, you know what to do."
Harry took a pinch of floo powder and threw it in the fire. As he stepped in he gave one last smile at his godfather and shouted "Holly Fields," everything became a blur as he rolled through the floo network.
With in a few seconds Harry reached Holly Fields. As he rolled out of the fire place Moody was there waiting for him. "Follow me and be quite, my wife is already asleep," whispered Moody.
Harry followed his old professor up the stairs and he ended up inside a very large room. "This will be your room." gruffly whispered Moody "Good night."
Harry didn't even bother to get into his pajamas as he crawled into bed. He was exhausted and the moment Harry's head hit the pillow he fell into a sound sleep for the first time in a long time.
* * * *
