Ch2- The Apparent Return of Sirius Black
Harry awoke to his scar pounding a tattoo into his skull. He sat up; wondering what in the world was going on. He opened his eyes and immediately saw a freckled face very close to his own. "Ron!" said Harry, wondering if he was still dreaming. "Hi Harry!" "Ron? What are you doing here? You're not due here until 3:30!" "But Harry, it is 3:30. I don't think you understood my letter. When I said 3:30, I meant in the morning. Dad seemed to think that it was for the best, you leaving during the night that is. You know what happened last time..." Ron trailed off. Harry smiled. "Fantastic! Lucky I packed last night! I'll just leave a note for the Dursleys."
Two minutes later and they were on their way in one of the ministry cars. Mr. Weasley, Fred, George and, surprisingly, Ginny had come along for the ride. Fred was driving, which may have been a bit of a mistake on Mr. Weasley's part. "FRED! THE OTHER WAY! NO! WE HAVE TO TAKE THE NEXT TURN! FRED! THAT IS A MUGGLE LETTER BOX, THEY DON'T MOVE OUT OF THE WAY WHEN YOU DRIVE TOO CLOSE! THAT'S IT! PULL OVER! I'M DRIVING!"
After Fred's eventful driving, Mr. Weasley at the wheel proved to be...well, just plain boring. Harry decided to take advantage of this by questioning everyone in the car on what they have done so far on their holidays, and their opinion's on the shortened holidays, Fred and George how their Joke shop was going, Ron on Ginny's letter and Mr. Weasley on Voldemort's movements. No one seemed to want to answer his questions, so he left it alone: he'd ask Hermione when he got to the Burrow.
"Harry, how have you been?" asked Mr. Weasley, looking over into the back seat worriedly. All conversation that was going on in the car stopped abruptly. "Yeah, okay, I guess." said Harry, nervous with all the eyes in the car on him. Mr. Weasley glanced at him, a disbelieving look on his face. "Look, how would you feel if you were responsible for the death of the only person that you'd regarded as a sort of father-older brother figure? I don't really want to talk about it okay?" Harry burst out, instantly feeling guilty at his suppressed rage. "Okay Harry, I understand that. We tried to get you out of there as soon as possible, because Dumbledore seemed to think that if we left you there too long, you could turn suicidal." "I'm sorry", Harry mumbled, feeling the tears welling in his eyes, "it's just..." "I know. " "Harry?" Ron asked "Yeah?" "If you ever feel you need to talk, just come to me, and I'll listen for hours if you want." At this Harry just couldn't stop the tears from coming. "Thanks Ron", he sobbed. He spent the rest of the journey looking out of the window.
Arrival at the Burrow was different to all the other times Harry had been there. In between everyone giving Harry hugs, and Ginny smiling nervously in Harry's direction, Harry spotted Ron and Hermione gesturing him to come up to Ron's room. Harry broke away from Mrs. Weasley's hug, mumbling something about getting some sleep. "Of course dear", she sniffled, while brushing tears out of her eyes.
Harry made his way up the stairs to Ron's room, contemplating what Hermione and Ron were going to tell him. He thought of how they really were in love with each other, without even knowing it. He wished that would happen to him. Half way up the last set of stairs leading to Ron's room, he heard shouting. "Not again!" he muttered, and opened the door, expecting to find them fighting about another trivial matter such as Hermione's cat, Crookshanks. However, Harry was surprised to find them fighting over him.
"Harry has a right to know!" shouted Ron, raising his fist and slamming it down on his desk with a thud. "Hermione, he went through so much, and if this is true, then it was all over nothing!" he continued softer, with an air of someone talking about something they shouldn't. "That's all very well Ron, but what if it's not true? What if the article is something out of The Quibbler? And Harry gets all his hopes up, only to be disappointed?" "But what if it's true?" wined Ron. "And what if it isn't?" shouted Hermione. "And what if what isn't?" asked Harry. Hermione looked shocked. Ron dropped the pack of exploding snap he was holding, which promptly exploded on impact with the floor. "How much of that did you hear?" asked Hermione suspiciously, fingering her singed eyebrows which had disappeared under her fringe. "None that I could make out what you were talking about. What were you talking about?" "Nothing. Nothing whatsoever." Hermione smiled nervously. "So! What have you been doing with yourself for a week?" "Harry, we have reason to believe that Sirius is still alive", blurted out Ron, ears going red. "RONALD WEASLEY! THAT IS IT! I AM NOT TALKING TO YOU FOR A WHOLE WEEK!" screamed Hermione, and she stormed out of the room. "Well hello to you too Hermione", said Harry, as he made his way over to Ron's bed and sat on it, still too stunned to talk about what Ron had said. "Well?" asked Ron, sitting down next to him, "What do you think?" "I think that's a load of crap Ron," said Harry, slightly angry that anyone would believe that rubbish. "But Harry, even Dumbledore says there might be truth behind some of the garbage the Daily Prophet prints. He told Hermione and me about walk-ins. What happens is..." "Yeah, I know." Harry cut him off, "a soul searches around this physical world to find someone with a perfectly healthy body. Maybe some one that has just died in an accident or something. And then that soul goes into that body and makes it live again." "How did you..." "I saw it in a muggle movie that Dudley was watching when we were little. Gave me nightmares for weeks. But Ron, that's just made up." Harry said, a little disappointed. "Harry, it may be in muggle world, but here, it's perfectly normal. Well, not normal as such, but normal-er than in the muggle world. Have you ever heard of someone with a split personality?" Harry nodded, "Well that's just two souls fighting for a place inside one body." "Oh," said Harry, disbelieving. "You believe that the Dementors suck out a person's soul, don't you?" "Well, yeah" said Harry, trying not to get his hopes up and thinking that maybe this could actually be true. "Then you should have also heard that Dementor victims make surprising recoveries, but not returning to their ordinary lives. Well, their body's ordinary lives anyway." "Ron, do you seriously believe that Sirius could be alive?" "Yes Harry, I do. Dumbledore told us, and I believe him"
The two friend sat in silence for a while, Harry thinking about Sirius, and Ron thinking about who knows what. After about fifteen minutes, Ron started talking again. "Harry, that's not what Hermione and I were going to tell you, when we asked you to come up to my room." "Really?" asked Harry, wondering what else Ron and Hermione had to tell him. "Yeah. We were going to tell you that we're going out." "Seriously?" asked Harry, too happy for his friends to say anything more. "Yep. You're not...angry or anything...are you?" "No! Of course not! I am so happy for you guys!" "Really? Do you think we're a good couple? I mean, do we look good together?" "Definitely", Harry grinned. "Come on Ron, let's get some dinner."
Harry awoke to his scar pounding a tattoo into his skull. He sat up; wondering what in the world was going on. He opened his eyes and immediately saw a freckled face very close to his own. "Ron!" said Harry, wondering if he was still dreaming. "Hi Harry!" "Ron? What are you doing here? You're not due here until 3:30!" "But Harry, it is 3:30. I don't think you understood my letter. When I said 3:30, I meant in the morning. Dad seemed to think that it was for the best, you leaving during the night that is. You know what happened last time..." Ron trailed off. Harry smiled. "Fantastic! Lucky I packed last night! I'll just leave a note for the Dursleys."
Two minutes later and they were on their way in one of the ministry cars. Mr. Weasley, Fred, George and, surprisingly, Ginny had come along for the ride. Fred was driving, which may have been a bit of a mistake on Mr. Weasley's part. "FRED! THE OTHER WAY! NO! WE HAVE TO TAKE THE NEXT TURN! FRED! THAT IS A MUGGLE LETTER BOX, THEY DON'T MOVE OUT OF THE WAY WHEN YOU DRIVE TOO CLOSE! THAT'S IT! PULL OVER! I'M DRIVING!"
After Fred's eventful driving, Mr. Weasley at the wheel proved to be...well, just plain boring. Harry decided to take advantage of this by questioning everyone in the car on what they have done so far on their holidays, and their opinion's on the shortened holidays, Fred and George how their Joke shop was going, Ron on Ginny's letter and Mr. Weasley on Voldemort's movements. No one seemed to want to answer his questions, so he left it alone: he'd ask Hermione when he got to the Burrow.
"Harry, how have you been?" asked Mr. Weasley, looking over into the back seat worriedly. All conversation that was going on in the car stopped abruptly. "Yeah, okay, I guess." said Harry, nervous with all the eyes in the car on him. Mr. Weasley glanced at him, a disbelieving look on his face. "Look, how would you feel if you were responsible for the death of the only person that you'd regarded as a sort of father-older brother figure? I don't really want to talk about it okay?" Harry burst out, instantly feeling guilty at his suppressed rage. "Okay Harry, I understand that. We tried to get you out of there as soon as possible, because Dumbledore seemed to think that if we left you there too long, you could turn suicidal." "I'm sorry", Harry mumbled, feeling the tears welling in his eyes, "it's just..." "I know. " "Harry?" Ron asked "Yeah?" "If you ever feel you need to talk, just come to me, and I'll listen for hours if you want." At this Harry just couldn't stop the tears from coming. "Thanks Ron", he sobbed. He spent the rest of the journey looking out of the window.
Arrival at the Burrow was different to all the other times Harry had been there. In between everyone giving Harry hugs, and Ginny smiling nervously in Harry's direction, Harry spotted Ron and Hermione gesturing him to come up to Ron's room. Harry broke away from Mrs. Weasley's hug, mumbling something about getting some sleep. "Of course dear", she sniffled, while brushing tears out of her eyes.
Harry made his way up the stairs to Ron's room, contemplating what Hermione and Ron were going to tell him. He thought of how they really were in love with each other, without even knowing it. He wished that would happen to him. Half way up the last set of stairs leading to Ron's room, he heard shouting. "Not again!" he muttered, and opened the door, expecting to find them fighting about another trivial matter such as Hermione's cat, Crookshanks. However, Harry was surprised to find them fighting over him.
"Harry has a right to know!" shouted Ron, raising his fist and slamming it down on his desk with a thud. "Hermione, he went through so much, and if this is true, then it was all over nothing!" he continued softer, with an air of someone talking about something they shouldn't. "That's all very well Ron, but what if it's not true? What if the article is something out of The Quibbler? And Harry gets all his hopes up, only to be disappointed?" "But what if it's true?" wined Ron. "And what if it isn't?" shouted Hermione. "And what if what isn't?" asked Harry. Hermione looked shocked. Ron dropped the pack of exploding snap he was holding, which promptly exploded on impact with the floor. "How much of that did you hear?" asked Hermione suspiciously, fingering her singed eyebrows which had disappeared under her fringe. "None that I could make out what you were talking about. What were you talking about?" "Nothing. Nothing whatsoever." Hermione smiled nervously. "So! What have you been doing with yourself for a week?" "Harry, we have reason to believe that Sirius is still alive", blurted out Ron, ears going red. "RONALD WEASLEY! THAT IS IT! I AM NOT TALKING TO YOU FOR A WHOLE WEEK!" screamed Hermione, and she stormed out of the room. "Well hello to you too Hermione", said Harry, as he made his way over to Ron's bed and sat on it, still too stunned to talk about what Ron had said. "Well?" asked Ron, sitting down next to him, "What do you think?" "I think that's a load of crap Ron," said Harry, slightly angry that anyone would believe that rubbish. "But Harry, even Dumbledore says there might be truth behind some of the garbage the Daily Prophet prints. He told Hermione and me about walk-ins. What happens is..." "Yeah, I know." Harry cut him off, "a soul searches around this physical world to find someone with a perfectly healthy body. Maybe some one that has just died in an accident or something. And then that soul goes into that body and makes it live again." "How did you..." "I saw it in a muggle movie that Dudley was watching when we were little. Gave me nightmares for weeks. But Ron, that's just made up." Harry said, a little disappointed. "Harry, it may be in muggle world, but here, it's perfectly normal. Well, not normal as such, but normal-er than in the muggle world. Have you ever heard of someone with a split personality?" Harry nodded, "Well that's just two souls fighting for a place inside one body." "Oh," said Harry, disbelieving. "You believe that the Dementors suck out a person's soul, don't you?" "Well, yeah" said Harry, trying not to get his hopes up and thinking that maybe this could actually be true. "Then you should have also heard that Dementor victims make surprising recoveries, but not returning to their ordinary lives. Well, their body's ordinary lives anyway." "Ron, do you seriously believe that Sirius could be alive?" "Yes Harry, I do. Dumbledore told us, and I believe him"
The two friend sat in silence for a while, Harry thinking about Sirius, and Ron thinking about who knows what. After about fifteen minutes, Ron started talking again. "Harry, that's not what Hermione and I were going to tell you, when we asked you to come up to my room." "Really?" asked Harry, wondering what else Ron and Hermione had to tell him. "Yeah. We were going to tell you that we're going out." "Seriously?" asked Harry, too happy for his friends to say anything more. "Yep. You're not...angry or anything...are you?" "No! Of course not! I am so happy for you guys!" "Really? Do you think we're a good couple? I mean, do we look good together?" "Definitely", Harry grinned. "Come on Ron, let's get some dinner."