Sirius grabbed the paper from Lupin and stared at it blankly while Lupin stared at him calmly.
"Sirius, there's no need to worry. Honestly, do you actually think there's a possibility that an intelligent young wizard like Harry couldn't find a way to sescape something as simple as fire?"
"I know, but it says here that no one's been able to find him," Sirius read on only to discover that all three of the Dursley's were found by muggle police giggling hysterically inside the fire. Apparently they were taken to a hospital and then an Insane asylum. Sirius right away smiled at this, beause he knew Harry had of course performed the fire- repelling charm on his Aunt, Uncle, and cousin and then of course he had to have performed it on himself as well. Sirius pointed this out to Lupin only to find Lupin shaking his head at Sirius and saying, "what did I tell you..."
"Yeah, sorry." Said Sirius clearing his throat. "He probably just went to the Burrow."
"That's exactly what I was thinking," Lupin said picking up his coffee from the table and taking another sip. "We'll find him," said Lupin with a "no-doubt-about-it" tone in his voice.
"Let's find him now," Sirius said quickly interrupted by Lupin.
"Not yet. We'll have nowhere to start if we don't do a bit of research first, at least finish the article," Lupin told Sirius. Sirius heaved a sigh at Lupin who was now turning the pages in his newspaper once again mumbling something about how the Ministry never thinks before they allow things to be poser in the Daily Prophet, when Sirius cleared his throat to get Lupin's attention. He looked up.
"I'm going to find Harry. Are you coming?"
"Sirius come on – you--" Lupin attempted to dissuade Sirius which seemed useless.
"Are. You. Coming.?" Said Sirius again. Lupin rolled his eyes, stood up, and with one meet of each other's eyes, they had apparted to Number 4 Privet Drive. The house was no longer there and replaced by a pile of ashes. Many muggle men were there cleaning and had not noticed Lupin and Sirius's sudden presence. They scrutinized the area for any sign of Harry. A book, a quill, anything. But they had no luck.
"Can I help you gents?" called a slightly chubby man striding over to them. Sirius and Lupin looked at each other hesitantly and then at the man.
"Er..." said Sirius, quickly saved by Lupin.
"Yes we were wondering if you knew anything about what happened to the family that lived here." Lupin stated contently. Sirius nodded and the man began to answer.
"Well, I don't know much myself, to tell you the truth. No on can even recall as to how the fire started either." Sirius and Lupin already knew the answer to this part because of the Daily Prophet's article. 6 words: He-who-must-not-be-named.
"And well," the man continued. "It was a family of four, I guess. Three of 'em were still here by the time the firemen reached the house. Somehow, the three of 'em didn't catch fire despite the fact they were lying right in it. In fact they found it rather amusing..." Lupin gave Sirius an uneasy look but Sirius just smiled. "...and the other, well, we don't know anything about him except that he didn't die."
"How do you know that he didn't die?" Sirius asked looking at the man intently as though questioning his honesty.
"Well because! Because we found no body or bones anywhere and believe me, we searched..." he shook his head in confusion. "It's okay though. At least no one lost their life. Hope their house was insured..."
"Okay, well thank you," said Lupin nodding at the man nervously. "We'll just be going then."
"And thank you for your assistance," added Sirius, bowing sarcastically, but the man didn't notice the sarcasm.
"Well it was my pleasure. Nice meeting you gents." And with that, the man stolled off to talk to a different man cleaning up Harry's now non- existant home.
"Where should we go to search first?" asked Lupin tiredly, looking at his watch. He was only in navy blue sweatpants, a white T-shirt and a robe. Obviously before Sirius had arrived he was just getting ready to go to bed.
"The Weasley's," Sirius stated. Lupin nodded.
"All right, then. You know they'll be rather surprised to see you mate. Try not to... you know... scare 'em too much." Sirius smiled, and with that they were off. A moment later they both landed hard on the Weasley's kitchen floor. Mrs. Weasley's back was to them and she was scrubbing a plate.
"Fred and George! What did I tell you about apparating down the stairs? You KNOW there is no purpose to-"She turned around still holding the plate, to face Fred and George only to meet eyes with Sirius and Lupin. Mrs. Weasley gasped and the plate she'd been washing went crashing to the floor. She didn't even glance at it.
"Sirius!" She cried. "Oh my goodness! How-?" She didn't have time to finish her own sentence because she embraced him in a huge bear-like hug. Lupin smiled while pointing his wand at the dropped plate and muttering, "Arculus Reparo." Mrs. Weasley began fixing Sirius's hair with her hand and brushing away dust on his shirt. Or... Hermione's dad's shirt. "Sirius! How are you alive? My goodness! When Ron finds out he wil be..." she trailed off and Sirius's mind drifted to other things. "Oh and hello Lupin!" Mrs. Weasley said turning to him and smiling. Before he could answer she had scurried over the the stairs to call up them. "Ronald!!! Get down here this instant!" she said trying to sound angry, but you could hear the happiness in her voice.
Ron came sprinting down the stairs a moment later, his eyebrows raised at his mother's funny look of joy, when his eyes drifted to Sirius. His face turned from already pale with freckles, to pure white. Sirius gave him a small smile and Ron's eyes only grew wider.
"How did you...?" He trailed off now squinting at Sirius. Sirius rolled his shoulders back and looked around uncomfortably when Ron cried out, "YOUR ALIVE! HE'S ALIVE! HARRY!!!!" Ran called grinning madly looking from the stairs to Sirius, hugging him. Ron ran to the stairs and called up to Harry, "HARRY!! Sirius is HERE!!! He's HERE!!! He's not dead!! He's alive! He- he- he -" Right at the moment Harry was standing beside Ron staring at Sirius. Sirius stared back. Ron and Mrs. Weasley were both grinning madly and Lupin was leaning against the counter top watching them, waiting for one to move.
"I- Sirius, I thought you'd gone," breathed Harry, his heart beating very fast. He looked confused. Sirius smiled.
"You can't get rid of me that easily," Sirius said laughing softly. Then, Harry's first smile in nearly three weeks covered his face and he ran to Sirius pulled him into a father-son embrace. Harry didn't know how it'd happened. He didn't know why Sirius was here, but he did know that he was. His godfather was here, with him, and he would never leave. Harry, while hugging Sirius, could think about nothing else except the fact that he's never felt so happy in his entire life.
"Sirius, there's no need to worry. Honestly, do you actually think there's a possibility that an intelligent young wizard like Harry couldn't find a way to sescape something as simple as fire?"
"I know, but it says here that no one's been able to find him," Sirius read on only to discover that all three of the Dursley's were found by muggle police giggling hysterically inside the fire. Apparently they were taken to a hospital and then an Insane asylum. Sirius right away smiled at this, beause he knew Harry had of course performed the fire- repelling charm on his Aunt, Uncle, and cousin and then of course he had to have performed it on himself as well. Sirius pointed this out to Lupin only to find Lupin shaking his head at Sirius and saying, "what did I tell you..."
"Yeah, sorry." Said Sirius clearing his throat. "He probably just went to the Burrow."
"That's exactly what I was thinking," Lupin said picking up his coffee from the table and taking another sip. "We'll find him," said Lupin with a "no-doubt-about-it" tone in his voice.
"Let's find him now," Sirius said quickly interrupted by Lupin.
"Not yet. We'll have nowhere to start if we don't do a bit of research first, at least finish the article," Lupin told Sirius. Sirius heaved a sigh at Lupin who was now turning the pages in his newspaper once again mumbling something about how the Ministry never thinks before they allow things to be poser in the Daily Prophet, when Sirius cleared his throat to get Lupin's attention. He looked up.
"I'm going to find Harry. Are you coming?"
"Sirius come on – you--" Lupin attempted to dissuade Sirius which seemed useless.
"Are. You. Coming.?" Said Sirius again. Lupin rolled his eyes, stood up, and with one meet of each other's eyes, they had apparted to Number 4 Privet Drive. The house was no longer there and replaced by a pile of ashes. Many muggle men were there cleaning and had not noticed Lupin and Sirius's sudden presence. They scrutinized the area for any sign of Harry. A book, a quill, anything. But they had no luck.
"Can I help you gents?" called a slightly chubby man striding over to them. Sirius and Lupin looked at each other hesitantly and then at the man.
"Er..." said Sirius, quickly saved by Lupin.
"Yes we were wondering if you knew anything about what happened to the family that lived here." Lupin stated contently. Sirius nodded and the man began to answer.
"Well, I don't know much myself, to tell you the truth. No on can even recall as to how the fire started either." Sirius and Lupin already knew the answer to this part because of the Daily Prophet's article. 6 words: He-who-must-not-be-named.
"And well," the man continued. "It was a family of four, I guess. Three of 'em were still here by the time the firemen reached the house. Somehow, the three of 'em didn't catch fire despite the fact they were lying right in it. In fact they found it rather amusing..." Lupin gave Sirius an uneasy look but Sirius just smiled. "...and the other, well, we don't know anything about him except that he didn't die."
"How do you know that he didn't die?" Sirius asked looking at the man intently as though questioning his honesty.
"Well because! Because we found no body or bones anywhere and believe me, we searched..." he shook his head in confusion. "It's okay though. At least no one lost their life. Hope their house was insured..."
"Okay, well thank you," said Lupin nodding at the man nervously. "We'll just be going then."
"And thank you for your assistance," added Sirius, bowing sarcastically, but the man didn't notice the sarcasm.
"Well it was my pleasure. Nice meeting you gents." And with that, the man stolled off to talk to a different man cleaning up Harry's now non- existant home.
"Where should we go to search first?" asked Lupin tiredly, looking at his watch. He was only in navy blue sweatpants, a white T-shirt and a robe. Obviously before Sirius had arrived he was just getting ready to go to bed.
"The Weasley's," Sirius stated. Lupin nodded.
"All right, then. You know they'll be rather surprised to see you mate. Try not to... you know... scare 'em too much." Sirius smiled, and with that they were off. A moment later they both landed hard on the Weasley's kitchen floor. Mrs. Weasley's back was to them and she was scrubbing a plate.
"Fred and George! What did I tell you about apparating down the stairs? You KNOW there is no purpose to-"She turned around still holding the plate, to face Fred and George only to meet eyes with Sirius and Lupin. Mrs. Weasley gasped and the plate she'd been washing went crashing to the floor. She didn't even glance at it.
"Sirius!" She cried. "Oh my goodness! How-?" She didn't have time to finish her own sentence because she embraced him in a huge bear-like hug. Lupin smiled while pointing his wand at the dropped plate and muttering, "Arculus Reparo." Mrs. Weasley began fixing Sirius's hair with her hand and brushing away dust on his shirt. Or... Hermione's dad's shirt. "Sirius! How are you alive? My goodness! When Ron finds out he wil be..." she trailed off and Sirius's mind drifted to other things. "Oh and hello Lupin!" Mrs. Weasley said turning to him and smiling. Before he could answer she had scurried over the the stairs to call up them. "Ronald!!! Get down here this instant!" she said trying to sound angry, but you could hear the happiness in her voice.
Ron came sprinting down the stairs a moment later, his eyebrows raised at his mother's funny look of joy, when his eyes drifted to Sirius. His face turned from already pale with freckles, to pure white. Sirius gave him a small smile and Ron's eyes only grew wider.
"How did you...?" He trailed off now squinting at Sirius. Sirius rolled his shoulders back and looked around uncomfortably when Ron cried out, "YOUR ALIVE! HE'S ALIVE! HARRY!!!!" Ran called grinning madly looking from the stairs to Sirius, hugging him. Ron ran to the stairs and called up to Harry, "HARRY!! Sirius is HERE!!! He's HERE!!! He's not dead!! He's alive! He- he- he -" Right at the moment Harry was standing beside Ron staring at Sirius. Sirius stared back. Ron and Mrs. Weasley were both grinning madly and Lupin was leaning against the counter top watching them, waiting for one to move.
"I- Sirius, I thought you'd gone," breathed Harry, his heart beating very fast. He looked confused. Sirius smiled.
"You can't get rid of me that easily," Sirius said laughing softly. Then, Harry's first smile in nearly three weeks covered his face and he ran to Sirius pulled him into a father-son embrace. Harry didn't know how it'd happened. He didn't know why Sirius was here, but he did know that he was. His godfather was here, with him, and he would never leave. Harry, while hugging Sirius, could think about nothing else except the fact that he's never felt so happy in his entire life.