Disclaimer: Read the first one!
Thanks Mabel Weasley: I complimented you? Where?*wink wink* To answer your question,
Harry did not become a vampire over the summer. It's not a stupid question because
I've been wondering that myself, and I'm writing the damn thing!!! That confuses me
to! People don't seem to realise that that's what ratings are there for. And if you
don't look at them there's always words in the summary, like SLASH, YEOWIE, MELON, and
my personal favourite, EXPLICIT SEX! If people miss these then their too blind to be
reading the fic and shouldn't get offended anyway! *pants after he said all that in one
breath* "Sorry 'bout that!"*does Hagrid impression* Anyway, where was I (I'm sure replies
to reviews are not supposed to be this long, but you are the only reviewer) I think the
whole thing with Ginny (which I obviously support) is that Harry's a nice guy, he's going
to spend a lot of time with her in the future and he couldn't possibly not fall in love
with her if she loves him. BUT Jo Rowling has supposedly said that there will be a H/Hr
coupling in the future. If there is I will destroy the world! *laughs manically*
Just kidding! Anyway, thanks for reviewing, as ever you are wonderful, please
review this one!
PS. I think your going to like what Remus and Charlie have to say in this one!
Chapter 6.
A bad feeling about this...
Looking at Harry then, care free, smiling widely, laughing and giggling as the dog on
top of him licked his face made Ginny remember him at better times. He was as carefree
as he had been when he had first come to Hogwarts, she hadn't seen that smile on him
since he had won the Quidditch cup for Gryffindor in her second year. He hadn't laughed
like that since they had tickled each other into exhaustion before school finished. She
missed the old Harry, maybe this party would bring him back. But she found herself
wondering, how he knew the dog, she'd never seen it before, she didn't even
know that Professor Lupin had a dog. He probably could have kept it in the school
when he had been a teacher there three years ago. She wouldn't have known about it,
Hogwarts was a big place. Harry however had spent a lot of time with Professor
Lupin, he had probably met him then. Ginny smiled at Harry through the door of the
kitchen and then turned around to look at the cake she had just finished making. It
was perfect apart from one thing. Ginny took up the icer in her hands and started to
write happy birthday. It was then that Hermione came in.
"You've done a wonderful job!" she said shocked as she looked at the cake. Ginny
beamed at her, she had made the whole thing herself with no use of magic what so
ever. Hermione smiled at her and sat on the stool next to her, "Harry will love this! He
was in a terrible mood when he woke up, but this should top of his day!" she said with
a knowing look on her face. Ginny turned to her with concern on hers and tilted her
head sideways.
"Did it have something to do with him crying yesterday?" she asked, maybe she could
get the information that she wanted from Hermione.
"Oh... You saw that did you?" Hermione looked at her as if she had just been let in on
some terrible secret, but she quickly got her feelings back in check, "It was something
to do with that, just some bad dreams, that was all, it's all sorted now though..."
Hermione stopped because she noticed the smile that Ginny couldn't stop from
creeping across her face, "What's up with you today? Don't give me that flimsy
excuse you did earlier either, is it about last night? Did you have one of your dreams
to?" she asked with a sly smile on her face.
"It was better this time," said Ginny not even blushing. She then proceeded to tell
Hermione every sordid detail as she very carefully decorated Harry's cake. She
jumped nearing the end though as Hermione let out a loud gasp and rushed to close
the door to the living room. She twirled around quickly and leant against it to make
sure that no one could get in.
"Say that last bit again?" she asked, a strange look on her face that scared Ginny.
"After he had... you know... I noticed the blood on his chest and started to lick it off.
The taste seemed to get me... you know... all over again!" she said quite nervously.
Hermione just stared at her with that look on her face, never changing.
"Did you enjoy the last bit?" she asked whispering, "I mean did you want to do it or
did you just find yourself doing it?" she looked intent on an answer so Ginny, too
scared to question her just sighed and found herself smiling.
"I remember deciding to do it! It just seemed so natural, and felt so good, you know?"
she said, her smile growing constantly, "It just seemed so real and natural. Like we were
both there at the same time, you know?"
Hermione did know, she and Ron had experienced lucid dreams like that before. She had read
up on them. Apparently a dream could exist between two people who loved each other in
which they both had control over what they did. But this didn't sound like Ginny. Ginny,
Ron's sweet little innocent sister couldn't possibly have wanted to do those things.
Hermione forced a weak smile and set her jaw.
"Are you absolutely sure that it was you who wanted to do that? I mean you didn't wake up
in a cold sweat or anything?" Ginny just looked back at her quite perplexed.
"No," she said shakily, Hermione was obviously scaring her, "I really enjoyed it, I slept
more deeply after that than ever before!" she practically shouted at Hermione, her voice
rising with her level of nervousness. Hermione finally found her smile again and hugged Ginny.
She didn't want to let her go; could this thing with Harry have had a lasting effect on her?
Would it hurt her?
"I think it's time you told Harry how you feel about him. Today would be a good day for it..."
she said a look of hope on her face. Miraculously this calmed Ginny down. In fact it put a
smile on her face wider than it had been earlier.
"What happened last night would be a good birthday present!" she said her eyes sparkling,
"It would make up for it being late anyway…" and with that said she carried the finished
cake into the living room. Hermione shuddered at the thoughts running through her head. Harry
would never hurt Harry intentionally, but what would his link to Voldemort do to her? She
walked after Ginny her eyes searching the room for Harry, Sirius and Lupin.
~~~~~~~~~~
Harry couldn't stop smiling, but it got even worse when Ginny walked into the room, covered
in flower, holding his birthday cake. She had made it all from scratch, no magic involved. He
was grinning like a Cheshire cat when she put it down in front of him.
"You did this all for me? Why go to so much..." Ginny silenced Harry with a smile, strangely
reminiscent of the smile from the dream last night, but she couldn't possibly have known about
that? Could she?
"I'll tell you later," she said softly, "but for now you eat!" she said a little louder than
she realised, and everyone started at once. There was lots of food, different meats, cheeses
that he had never heard of but was sure he had smelled in a wash basket somewhere, vegetables
that were oddly reminiscent of the heads of muggle politicians and chocolates of all shapes
sizes and of course, flavours! He stuffed his face while everyone spoke, being careful to
leave enough room for a sizeable portion of Ginny's huge cake. Eventually however, he was
dragged into the conversation by Mrs. Weasley who questioned Professor Lupin, sitting right
next to him.
"That dog seems very well behaved, is it magical?" she asked quite innocently as Padfoot sat
as still as a statue next to Harry and Lupin not begging for a morsel of food. Harry looked at
Lupin then at Ron and Hermione and they started giggling uncontrollably. Lupin however brought
himself under control first.
"It's only magical quality is that it has been around a long time. It belonged to Harry's father
and I, when we were in Hogwarts," he said smiling at Harry. Harry couldn't help but smirk at the
joke, "It's very well behaved because it's been with us for so long now that it knows us inside
and out. It seems to have adopted Harry and his friends also. He's a very good guard dog, so Ron
won't get into any trouble this year!" Mrs. Weasley smiled at him but after a moment of silence
the kids all looked back at him. It took them a moment to realise what he had said.
"What do you mean this year?" they all asked in unison. Lupin just smiled at them and placed
his cutlery down on the empty plate.
"I was going to mention it after the cake when we had a chance to talk more privately," he said
glancing meaningfully at Harry, "But I see no reason to keep it a secret. Padfoot and I are
returning to Hogwarts with you this year, I will be your Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher
once again!" With this Ron let out a lot cheer followed by Ginny and Hermione rushing to tell
him how wonderful it would be to have him there again. Harry just smiled at him and Padfoot. He
had never been so happy in all of his life. He would be able to spend a whole year with Lupin and
Sirius; his godfather, two people who had known his father better than anyone alive. And he would
be there with Ginny, maybe this year something would happen, he felt as if anything was possible
right now. But Charlie coughed loudly hushing the table. He stood up so everyone could see him
and took a sip from his tankard of Butter beer.
"I suppose now is the best time to tell everyone my news as well then," he smiled at his mother,
"I've finished my job in Romania," at this his mother gasped in despair but Bill grabbed her hand
and nodded encouragement at what Charlie had to say, "I've finished because they're sending me
to Hogwarts with Norbert. I'm going to be your joint Care of Magical Creatures teacher with Hagrid!"
With this the table erupted. Ron and Ginny ran over to their brother and hugged him tightly. Harry
turned to Hermione and winked. She smiled back at him and he thought of Hagrid. Harry knew that
Hagrid was going to cry when he saw a fully grown Norbert, he wondered if he knew yet?
"After that wonderful news I think we should light the candles on the cake and Harry can make a
wish... I got that right didn't I Harry?" asked Mr. Weasley as he took out his wand. Harry smiled
as Mr. Weasley held up his wand and said "Incendio!" The candles immediately flared up, flames
licked the end of Mr. Weasleys wand as Harry motioned to blow them out. But before the first breath
was out of his lungs the candles started to sparkle. They burnt down very quickly as Harry noticed
George and Fred smile slyly at him and duck under the table. Everyone seemed about to follow suit
when the cake exploded!
Harry looked around the table as he wiped his eyes clean, careful to make sure that none had got
on his contacts. Everyone seemed to be in the same state as him, apart from Fred and George who
were now creeping quietly away from the table. Mrs. Weasley coughed loudly, as she picked cake out
of her hair. The twins turned around slowly, finding it impossible to hide the identical smiles on
their faces. Mrs. Weasley was about to say something when Padfoot proceeded to lick the cake of
Harry's face. Harry started to laugh as Lupin took a large piece from Ron's head and put it in
his mouth.
"Mmm Mmm... Delicious!" he said as he picked up another piece from the table and started to laugh
heartily as he put it in his mouth. Harry looked around to see everyone trying to stifle giggles,
until they all let it out. The entire room burst into energetic laughter, with Ron falling on the
floor as Hermione leant on him. But as everyone held their sides, someone stood up quickly throwing
their chair across the room. Silence fell as Harry looked up into Ginny's eyes, and saw fire there.
She was perfectly clean but the look she gave George and Fred, was so dirty, he was sure they would
curl up into balls on the floor and start sobbing.
"Gin, it was a joke, no harm..." George was silenced by Ginny's eyes as they got wider.
"You've ruined it!" she screamed at them. They tried to move towards her but she stepped back. Harry
rose from the table and tried to brush some of the cake off.
"It's okay Ginny. We're all enjoying ourselves, everyone laughed!" he said softly, immediately
regretting it as she spun to look at him.
"I didn't laugh!" she shouted at him, "I had to stop myself from crying! They've ruined it! It was
perfect, I was going to make today special for you, and then… and then…" Harry looked into her pleading
eyes, and stopped himself from asking her to continue. The moment had obviously gone for her, he would
have to ask her later.
"Ginny, its okay..." but she was gone through the kitchen before her name had come out of his mouth.
"I think boys, that it's time we had a chat about what age you actually start having to grow up at,"
Mrs. Weasley said as she glared at the twins. Bill and Charlie excused themselves after wishing Harry
a Happy Unbirthday and went to explore the countryside, as they hadn't been home in a while. This just
left Harry, Ron, Hermione, Lupin and Padfoot left sitting there.
"Maybe I should go after her?" Harry thought to himself, as he motioned towards the door. As if Hermione
knew what he was thinking, she got up and grabbed onto his arm.
"Give her a little time…" she smiled weakly at Harry and turned him around, "We've got other matters
to attend to first!" she said pointing at Lupin and Padfoot. Harry picked up his broom, and Ron grabbed
his and they made their way to the Paddock, the others in tow. When everyone noticed the brooms gone
they would not go anywhere near the paddock. Everyone knew the price of going up there during practice
was usually a bludger to the head!
~~~~~~~~~~
Lupin transfigured some tree stumps into seats and sat down on them. With that Padfoot began his
transformation back into Sirius. By the time they were all comfortable, Sirius was his normal self again
and Harry embraced him. After a while of holding Sirius, Harry broke away and smiled at him. But Harry
saw Sirius' face fall. He was concentrating on Harry and Harry knew that Sirius could see the darkness
within him. Lupin broke the silence.
"Not that it isn't nice to see you again Harry; I would love to just sit here carefree with you all day
and talk about your family, something I know you would love to. But Hermione addressed it earlier, we do
have some pressing matters to discuss…" he stared pointedly at Harry. Ron put his hand reassuringly on
Harry's shoulder and squeezed. Harry looked at Lupin and Sirius and started to tell them all about last
summer. He finished with his nightmares, conveniently leaving out his two most recent dreams, for Ron's
sake. He found Sirius staring at him wide mouthed, but Lupin had adopted the same look Hermione had when
he had first told them.
"You are your parent's son Harry!" Sirius said immediately. Harry couldn't help but smile at this, even
though he didn't really understand it. But he frowned when Lupin grabbed Sirius' arm and motioned for him
to be quiet.
"What did he mean by that?" Harry asked staring intently at them both. Sirius smiled weakly but Lupin
looked even more serious than before.
"Harry, I beg you not to ask us any more questions about this until we are at Hogwarts. We need Professor
Dumbledore there, only then can we help you to fully understand what is happening to you," Lupin said to
Harry, his jaw set but his eyes pleading with him. Harry sat back in his seat, as Lupin rose to leave,
"I must send and urgent letter to Albus Sirius, are you coming?" he asked as he walked towards the wall
of trees.
"I'll catch you up!" he called after him and then sat on the arm of Harry's tree-chair, "Now I want you
to forget all this, and try and remember a long time ago, when you were one year old. Try and remember a
dream, where you were flying in the arms of a Giant, the wind curling around you, a deep hum beneath you..."
Harry had closed his eyes as Sirius had started speaking and now he could see what looked like a city at night,
from above, "Now I want you to concentrate on the hum beneath you and say with your wand, 'Accio Bike!'"
Harry spoke almost the same time as Sirius, he was so sure that of what was going to be said. Almost
immediately a large black bike, with no rider came crashing through the trees, it pulled up next to Harry
and gave a loud rev of its engine. Harry stared at it and marvelled at it suddenly remembering what he had
heard Hagrid once say about Sirius.
"This is your bike, the one I was flown on the night my parents..." Sirius smiled at him and Harry couldn't
bring himself to say the word, it was such a happy moment.
"It's your bike now Harry!" Sirius explained loudly, "Lupin pulled a few strings at the ministry, its this
years birthday present now that your old enough!" Harry shot up out of his chair and jumped onto the bike.
It moved underneath him, threatening to take off, but he could control it. When it came to flying objects
that you could ride, there wasn't anyone better than Harry, "But you must promise me something..." Sirius
said as Harry felt his hand on his back, "You must ride this to Hogwarts this year!"
"But Sirius, I'm not allowed, we tried it in a car..." Harry tried to say but Sirius stopped him with a
sly smile.
"It has a disillusionment charm on it. Muggles won't be able to see you this time..." he let his voice
fade out as Harry turned back to the bike, "I'm going to go and help Remus, you fly around on it,
practice, have fun!" he said as he disappeared from sight. Ron marvelled at the bike but as soon as
Sirius was out of earshot Harry turned to Hermione.
"There's something wrong here," Hermione looked at him as if agreeing but she didn't really know why,
"Firstly, their both going back to Hogwarts this year, which would have caused Dumbledore a lot of trouble
with the ministry. Not so much for Sirius because they don't know about him, but letting a werewolf back
in after the attack last time," he said trailing off as they all remembered what happened in their third
year, "Secondly, Dumbledore is bringing a fully grown Norwegian Ridgeback to the castle. Not only is that
dodgy because of the trouble he would have had with the Ministry but it's obviously for defence against
something. Last but not least, this bike," he said patting the petrol tank affectionately, "They would have
had a lot of trouble getting the Ministry to let me, Harry Potter, ride convicted criminal, Sirius' bike.
But the strange thing is, they made me promise to ride the bike to Hogwarts. That means they don't want
me to go on the train. Why?" Ron looked astounded, but that was only because he was probably about ten
sentences back. Hermione however looked impressed, it was normally her who worked out the ins and outs of
a problem first, never Harry, "Something big is going to happen at Hogwarts this year!" he said pointedly
as he stared at them both. Ron finally caught up and shook his head in disbelief.
"I've got a bad feeling about this..." Ron said as Harry got off the bike. Harry looked at him as they started
to move towards the trees.
"You can say that again," said Hermione as she took his hand. Ron turned and smiled weakly to Harry and was
about to repeat himself when there was a dry snap from in front of them. A twig had been stepped on and now
that they looked they could see a dark shape hiding in the trees. They had their wands out instantly, and
Harry moved towards the trees. Ron covered his back but looked at Hermione, his face betraying how scared
he was at this present moment in time.
"I've got a bad feeling about this..."
~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~
Thanks for all the faithful reviewers 1!!! Not that I'm unhappy or anything but I know that people are
reading this. If you don't like it enough to give me a good review then tell me where I'm going wrong and
how I can appeal to your interests! Please REVIEW!!!
Also Mabel Weasley: Have you added me to your favourite authors list cos I know I'm on one persons and I'd
love to know who likes my writing that much...
Thanks Mabel Weasley: I complimented you? Where?*wink wink* To answer your question,
Harry did not become a vampire over the summer. It's not a stupid question because
I've been wondering that myself, and I'm writing the damn thing!!! That confuses me
to! People don't seem to realise that that's what ratings are there for. And if you
don't look at them there's always words in the summary, like SLASH, YEOWIE, MELON, and
my personal favourite, EXPLICIT SEX! If people miss these then their too blind to be
reading the fic and shouldn't get offended anyway! *pants after he said all that in one
breath* "Sorry 'bout that!"*does Hagrid impression* Anyway, where was I (I'm sure replies
to reviews are not supposed to be this long, but you are the only reviewer) I think the
whole thing with Ginny (which I obviously support) is that Harry's a nice guy, he's going
to spend a lot of time with her in the future and he couldn't possibly not fall in love
with her if she loves him. BUT Jo Rowling has supposedly said that there will be a H/Hr
coupling in the future. If there is I will destroy the world! *laughs manically*
Just kidding! Anyway, thanks for reviewing, as ever you are wonderful, please
review this one!
PS. I think your going to like what Remus and Charlie have to say in this one!
Chapter 6.
A bad feeling about this...
Looking at Harry then, care free, smiling widely, laughing and giggling as the dog on
top of him licked his face made Ginny remember him at better times. He was as carefree
as he had been when he had first come to Hogwarts, she hadn't seen that smile on him
since he had won the Quidditch cup for Gryffindor in her second year. He hadn't laughed
like that since they had tickled each other into exhaustion before school finished. She
missed the old Harry, maybe this party would bring him back. But she found herself
wondering, how he knew the dog, she'd never seen it before, she didn't even
know that Professor Lupin had a dog. He probably could have kept it in the school
when he had been a teacher there three years ago. She wouldn't have known about it,
Hogwarts was a big place. Harry however had spent a lot of time with Professor
Lupin, he had probably met him then. Ginny smiled at Harry through the door of the
kitchen and then turned around to look at the cake she had just finished making. It
was perfect apart from one thing. Ginny took up the icer in her hands and started to
write happy birthday. It was then that Hermione came in.
"You've done a wonderful job!" she said shocked as she looked at the cake. Ginny
beamed at her, she had made the whole thing herself with no use of magic what so
ever. Hermione smiled at her and sat on the stool next to her, "Harry will love this! He
was in a terrible mood when he woke up, but this should top of his day!" she said with
a knowing look on her face. Ginny turned to her with concern on hers and tilted her
head sideways.
"Did it have something to do with him crying yesterday?" she asked, maybe she could
get the information that she wanted from Hermione.
"Oh... You saw that did you?" Hermione looked at her as if she had just been let in on
some terrible secret, but she quickly got her feelings back in check, "It was something
to do with that, just some bad dreams, that was all, it's all sorted now though..."
Hermione stopped because she noticed the smile that Ginny couldn't stop from
creeping across her face, "What's up with you today? Don't give me that flimsy
excuse you did earlier either, is it about last night? Did you have one of your dreams
to?" she asked with a sly smile on her face.
"It was better this time," said Ginny not even blushing. She then proceeded to tell
Hermione every sordid detail as she very carefully decorated Harry's cake. She
jumped nearing the end though as Hermione let out a loud gasp and rushed to close
the door to the living room. She twirled around quickly and leant against it to make
sure that no one could get in.
"Say that last bit again?" she asked, a strange look on her face that scared Ginny.
"After he had... you know... I noticed the blood on his chest and started to lick it off.
The taste seemed to get me... you know... all over again!" she said quite nervously.
Hermione just stared at her with that look on her face, never changing.
"Did you enjoy the last bit?" she asked whispering, "I mean did you want to do it or
did you just find yourself doing it?" she looked intent on an answer so Ginny, too
scared to question her just sighed and found herself smiling.
"I remember deciding to do it! It just seemed so natural, and felt so good, you know?"
she said, her smile growing constantly, "It just seemed so real and natural. Like we were
both there at the same time, you know?"
Hermione did know, she and Ron had experienced lucid dreams like that before. She had read
up on them. Apparently a dream could exist between two people who loved each other in
which they both had control over what they did. But this didn't sound like Ginny. Ginny,
Ron's sweet little innocent sister couldn't possibly have wanted to do those things.
Hermione forced a weak smile and set her jaw.
"Are you absolutely sure that it was you who wanted to do that? I mean you didn't wake up
in a cold sweat or anything?" Ginny just looked back at her quite perplexed.
"No," she said shakily, Hermione was obviously scaring her, "I really enjoyed it, I slept
more deeply after that than ever before!" she practically shouted at Hermione, her voice
rising with her level of nervousness. Hermione finally found her smile again and hugged Ginny.
She didn't want to let her go; could this thing with Harry have had a lasting effect on her?
Would it hurt her?
"I think it's time you told Harry how you feel about him. Today would be a good day for it..."
she said a look of hope on her face. Miraculously this calmed Ginny down. In fact it put a
smile on her face wider than it had been earlier.
"What happened last night would be a good birthday present!" she said her eyes sparkling,
"It would make up for it being late anyway…" and with that said she carried the finished
cake into the living room. Hermione shuddered at the thoughts running through her head. Harry
would never hurt Harry intentionally, but what would his link to Voldemort do to her? She
walked after Ginny her eyes searching the room for Harry, Sirius and Lupin.
~~~~~~~~~~
Harry couldn't stop smiling, but it got even worse when Ginny walked into the room, covered
in flower, holding his birthday cake. She had made it all from scratch, no magic involved. He
was grinning like a Cheshire cat when she put it down in front of him.
"You did this all for me? Why go to so much..." Ginny silenced Harry with a smile, strangely
reminiscent of the smile from the dream last night, but she couldn't possibly have known about
that? Could she?
"I'll tell you later," she said softly, "but for now you eat!" she said a little louder than
she realised, and everyone started at once. There was lots of food, different meats, cheeses
that he had never heard of but was sure he had smelled in a wash basket somewhere, vegetables
that were oddly reminiscent of the heads of muggle politicians and chocolates of all shapes
sizes and of course, flavours! He stuffed his face while everyone spoke, being careful to
leave enough room for a sizeable portion of Ginny's huge cake. Eventually however, he was
dragged into the conversation by Mrs. Weasley who questioned Professor Lupin, sitting right
next to him.
"That dog seems very well behaved, is it magical?" she asked quite innocently as Padfoot sat
as still as a statue next to Harry and Lupin not begging for a morsel of food. Harry looked at
Lupin then at Ron and Hermione and they started giggling uncontrollably. Lupin however brought
himself under control first.
"It's only magical quality is that it has been around a long time. It belonged to Harry's father
and I, when we were in Hogwarts," he said smiling at Harry. Harry couldn't help but smirk at the
joke, "It's very well behaved because it's been with us for so long now that it knows us inside
and out. It seems to have adopted Harry and his friends also. He's a very good guard dog, so Ron
won't get into any trouble this year!" Mrs. Weasley smiled at him but after a moment of silence
the kids all looked back at him. It took them a moment to realise what he had said.
"What do you mean this year?" they all asked in unison. Lupin just smiled at them and placed
his cutlery down on the empty plate.
"I was going to mention it after the cake when we had a chance to talk more privately," he said
glancing meaningfully at Harry, "But I see no reason to keep it a secret. Padfoot and I are
returning to Hogwarts with you this year, I will be your Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher
once again!" With this Ron let out a lot cheer followed by Ginny and Hermione rushing to tell
him how wonderful it would be to have him there again. Harry just smiled at him and Padfoot. He
had never been so happy in all of his life. He would be able to spend a whole year with Lupin and
Sirius; his godfather, two people who had known his father better than anyone alive. And he would
be there with Ginny, maybe this year something would happen, he felt as if anything was possible
right now. But Charlie coughed loudly hushing the table. He stood up so everyone could see him
and took a sip from his tankard of Butter beer.
"I suppose now is the best time to tell everyone my news as well then," he smiled at his mother,
"I've finished my job in Romania," at this his mother gasped in despair but Bill grabbed her hand
and nodded encouragement at what Charlie had to say, "I've finished because they're sending me
to Hogwarts with Norbert. I'm going to be your joint Care of Magical Creatures teacher with Hagrid!"
With this the table erupted. Ron and Ginny ran over to their brother and hugged him tightly. Harry
turned to Hermione and winked. She smiled back at him and he thought of Hagrid. Harry knew that
Hagrid was going to cry when he saw a fully grown Norbert, he wondered if he knew yet?
"After that wonderful news I think we should light the candles on the cake and Harry can make a
wish... I got that right didn't I Harry?" asked Mr. Weasley as he took out his wand. Harry smiled
as Mr. Weasley held up his wand and said "Incendio!" The candles immediately flared up, flames
licked the end of Mr. Weasleys wand as Harry motioned to blow them out. But before the first breath
was out of his lungs the candles started to sparkle. They burnt down very quickly as Harry noticed
George and Fred smile slyly at him and duck under the table. Everyone seemed about to follow suit
when the cake exploded!
Harry looked around the table as he wiped his eyes clean, careful to make sure that none had got
on his contacts. Everyone seemed to be in the same state as him, apart from Fred and George who
were now creeping quietly away from the table. Mrs. Weasley coughed loudly, as she picked cake out
of her hair. The twins turned around slowly, finding it impossible to hide the identical smiles on
their faces. Mrs. Weasley was about to say something when Padfoot proceeded to lick the cake of
Harry's face. Harry started to laugh as Lupin took a large piece from Ron's head and put it in
his mouth.
"Mmm Mmm... Delicious!" he said as he picked up another piece from the table and started to laugh
heartily as he put it in his mouth. Harry looked around to see everyone trying to stifle giggles,
until they all let it out. The entire room burst into energetic laughter, with Ron falling on the
floor as Hermione leant on him. But as everyone held their sides, someone stood up quickly throwing
their chair across the room. Silence fell as Harry looked up into Ginny's eyes, and saw fire there.
She was perfectly clean but the look she gave George and Fred, was so dirty, he was sure they would
curl up into balls on the floor and start sobbing.
"Gin, it was a joke, no harm..." George was silenced by Ginny's eyes as they got wider.
"You've ruined it!" she screamed at them. They tried to move towards her but she stepped back. Harry
rose from the table and tried to brush some of the cake off.
"It's okay Ginny. We're all enjoying ourselves, everyone laughed!" he said softly, immediately
regretting it as she spun to look at him.
"I didn't laugh!" she shouted at him, "I had to stop myself from crying! They've ruined it! It was
perfect, I was going to make today special for you, and then… and then…" Harry looked into her pleading
eyes, and stopped himself from asking her to continue. The moment had obviously gone for her, he would
have to ask her later.
"Ginny, its okay..." but she was gone through the kitchen before her name had come out of his mouth.
"I think boys, that it's time we had a chat about what age you actually start having to grow up at,"
Mrs. Weasley said as she glared at the twins. Bill and Charlie excused themselves after wishing Harry
a Happy Unbirthday and went to explore the countryside, as they hadn't been home in a while. This just
left Harry, Ron, Hermione, Lupin and Padfoot left sitting there.
"Maybe I should go after her?" Harry thought to himself, as he motioned towards the door. As if Hermione
knew what he was thinking, she got up and grabbed onto his arm.
"Give her a little time…" she smiled weakly at Harry and turned him around, "We've got other matters
to attend to first!" she said pointing at Lupin and Padfoot. Harry picked up his broom, and Ron grabbed
his and they made their way to the Paddock, the others in tow. When everyone noticed the brooms gone
they would not go anywhere near the paddock. Everyone knew the price of going up there during practice
was usually a bludger to the head!
~~~~~~~~~~
Lupin transfigured some tree stumps into seats and sat down on them. With that Padfoot began his
transformation back into Sirius. By the time they were all comfortable, Sirius was his normal self again
and Harry embraced him. After a while of holding Sirius, Harry broke away and smiled at him. But Harry
saw Sirius' face fall. He was concentrating on Harry and Harry knew that Sirius could see the darkness
within him. Lupin broke the silence.
"Not that it isn't nice to see you again Harry; I would love to just sit here carefree with you all day
and talk about your family, something I know you would love to. But Hermione addressed it earlier, we do
have some pressing matters to discuss…" he stared pointedly at Harry. Ron put his hand reassuringly on
Harry's shoulder and squeezed. Harry looked at Lupin and Sirius and started to tell them all about last
summer. He finished with his nightmares, conveniently leaving out his two most recent dreams, for Ron's
sake. He found Sirius staring at him wide mouthed, but Lupin had adopted the same look Hermione had when
he had first told them.
"You are your parent's son Harry!" Sirius said immediately. Harry couldn't help but smile at this, even
though he didn't really understand it. But he frowned when Lupin grabbed Sirius' arm and motioned for him
to be quiet.
"What did he mean by that?" Harry asked staring intently at them both. Sirius smiled weakly but Lupin
looked even more serious than before.
"Harry, I beg you not to ask us any more questions about this until we are at Hogwarts. We need Professor
Dumbledore there, only then can we help you to fully understand what is happening to you," Lupin said to
Harry, his jaw set but his eyes pleading with him. Harry sat back in his seat, as Lupin rose to leave,
"I must send and urgent letter to Albus Sirius, are you coming?" he asked as he walked towards the wall
of trees.
"I'll catch you up!" he called after him and then sat on the arm of Harry's tree-chair, "Now I want you
to forget all this, and try and remember a long time ago, when you were one year old. Try and remember a
dream, where you were flying in the arms of a Giant, the wind curling around you, a deep hum beneath you..."
Harry had closed his eyes as Sirius had started speaking and now he could see what looked like a city at night,
from above, "Now I want you to concentrate on the hum beneath you and say with your wand, 'Accio Bike!'"
Harry spoke almost the same time as Sirius, he was so sure that of what was going to be said. Almost
immediately a large black bike, with no rider came crashing through the trees, it pulled up next to Harry
and gave a loud rev of its engine. Harry stared at it and marvelled at it suddenly remembering what he had
heard Hagrid once say about Sirius.
"This is your bike, the one I was flown on the night my parents..." Sirius smiled at him and Harry couldn't
bring himself to say the word, it was such a happy moment.
"It's your bike now Harry!" Sirius explained loudly, "Lupin pulled a few strings at the ministry, its this
years birthday present now that your old enough!" Harry shot up out of his chair and jumped onto the bike.
It moved underneath him, threatening to take off, but he could control it. When it came to flying objects
that you could ride, there wasn't anyone better than Harry, "But you must promise me something..." Sirius
said as Harry felt his hand on his back, "You must ride this to Hogwarts this year!"
"But Sirius, I'm not allowed, we tried it in a car..." Harry tried to say but Sirius stopped him with a
sly smile.
"It has a disillusionment charm on it. Muggles won't be able to see you this time..." he let his voice
fade out as Harry turned back to the bike, "I'm going to go and help Remus, you fly around on it,
practice, have fun!" he said as he disappeared from sight. Ron marvelled at the bike but as soon as
Sirius was out of earshot Harry turned to Hermione.
"There's something wrong here," Hermione looked at him as if agreeing but she didn't really know why,
"Firstly, their both going back to Hogwarts this year, which would have caused Dumbledore a lot of trouble
with the ministry. Not so much for Sirius because they don't know about him, but letting a werewolf back
in after the attack last time," he said trailing off as they all remembered what happened in their third
year, "Secondly, Dumbledore is bringing a fully grown Norwegian Ridgeback to the castle. Not only is that
dodgy because of the trouble he would have had with the Ministry but it's obviously for defence against
something. Last but not least, this bike," he said patting the petrol tank affectionately, "They would have
had a lot of trouble getting the Ministry to let me, Harry Potter, ride convicted criminal, Sirius' bike.
But the strange thing is, they made me promise to ride the bike to Hogwarts. That means they don't want
me to go on the train. Why?" Ron looked astounded, but that was only because he was probably about ten
sentences back. Hermione however looked impressed, it was normally her who worked out the ins and outs of
a problem first, never Harry, "Something big is going to happen at Hogwarts this year!" he said pointedly
as he stared at them both. Ron finally caught up and shook his head in disbelief.
"I've got a bad feeling about this..." Ron said as Harry got off the bike. Harry looked at him as they started
to move towards the trees.
"You can say that again," said Hermione as she took his hand. Ron turned and smiled weakly to Harry and was
about to repeat himself when there was a dry snap from in front of them. A twig had been stepped on and now
that they looked they could see a dark shape hiding in the trees. They had their wands out instantly, and
Harry moved towards the trees. Ron covered his back but looked at Hermione, his face betraying how scared
he was at this present moment in time.
"I've got a bad feeling about this..."
~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~
Thanks for all the faithful reviewers 1!!! Not that I'm unhappy or anything but I know that people are
reading this. If you don't like it enough to give me a good review then tell me where I'm going wrong and
how I can appeal to your interests! Please REVIEW!!!
Also Mabel Weasley: Have you added me to your favourite authors list cos I know I'm on one persons and I'd
love to know who likes my writing that much...