Sorry I took so long, guys. I hope you enjoy this chapter! A little more action this time. Expect more of Harry's problems in future chapters. Expect a little romance. I'm going to be gone from the 27th of July 2004 - the 20th of August 2004, so I won't be posting during that time, although I hope to be doing some writing!
Harry showed his aunt and uncle to another empty bedroom upstairs, assuring them the whole time that none of the doorknobs would bite, and that if, perchance, the mirror or a painting said anything, it was harmless and should be ignored.
As he walked back down the hallway toward the staircase and the voices drifting up from the first floor, He noticed that Ethan's door was open just a few inches. He paused, and just to be safe, peeked in.
Ethan was standing very still, eyes closed, right in front of the door.
"Ethan?" Harry asked quietly. "You shouldn't be wandering, Ethan..."
Then something occurred to him. He pushed the door farther open and shook the boy gently by the shoulders.
Ethan's eyes popped open and he drew a sharp breath.
"Whasgoinon?" he demanded sleepily, and rubbed his eyes. He looked up at Harry.
"Oh, sorry, Professor," he said awkwardly, looking up at the stern face above him. "I um... I sleepwalk sometimes. When I'm nervous or something."
Harry wasn't sure how to respond. It was, honestly, a bit of a problem; he was going to need Ethan to stay asleep without supervision... wandering at night was dangerous... and he only sleepwalks when he's nervous. That's just great.
"That's fine," Harry lied. "Just checking on you."
Ethan smoothed his rumpled hair. "I'll just go back to bed, then," he said nervously. He closed the bedroom door, and Harry could hear the bed creaking as he lay down in it.
Harry considered for a moment, and thought he should probably lock the door...
"HARRY!" Uncle Vernon's yell made Harry jump. He turned wearily around. Vernon was leaning out of his doorway, his hair unkempt and his eyes wild.
"What now?" Harry asked, exasperated. "Did the curtain flutter? Because I have to tell you, Uncle Vernon, that's pretty much normal, it won't eat you..."
"NO, YOU STUPID – THERE WAS SOMEBODY IN HERE!!!"
"What, Aunt Petunia? She's your wife."
"STOP BEING SARCASTIC!" Vernon yelled, spraying Harry with flecks of spit. "I'M TELLING YOU THERE WAS A MAN IN HERE NOT A MINUTE AGO! HE APPEARED AND DISAPPEARED, RIGHT BY THE WINDOW – "
Harry felt a small jolt of panic. Thoughts rushed through his mind... Nobody was supposed to come here, were they? Why would somebody Apparate into a bedroom rather than the living room? Whoever it was probably panicked and disapparated when they saw the Dursleys... It would be someone I know, wouldn't it... none of the Death Eaters know where I live, do they?
Harry, suddenly serious, pushed past his uncle into the guest room. His aunt stood stock still in the corner, staring at the window.
"Did he disappear with a pop, or did it look like he put something over himself?" Harry asked. If it was an invisibility cloak, he was still here... Harry whipped out his wand.
"I DON'T KNOW! HOW SHOULD I KNOW?" Vernon yelled, but halted as Harry turned toward him. "I think it was a pop, but what difference does that make?!?!?"
"A lot of difference." Harry muttered "lumos" and shone wandlight around the darkened room. Moonlight streamed through the window. The moon was full, and the bright light cast confusing and sharply defined shadows all around the room.
"What did he look like?" Harry demanded.
"I don't know!" Vernon said again. There was an edge of panic in his voice. "Blond, or gray hair, and much too long... in a ponytail... scruffy looking... really underfed, all skinny..."
Harry said something nasty under his breath.
"Come on," he said sharply to his aunt and uncle, and swept out of the room. He pelted down the hall and threw Ethan's door open.
Ethan's bed was empty.
"Doesn't anything normal ever happen around here?" Vernon yelled from the hallway.
Harry shone wandlight into the corners, panic mounting. How could I have been so careless, again...?
"Ethan!"
Probably just sleepwalking.
But he can't have fallen asleep that fast, can he?
I shouldn't have let him out of my sight!
How does Lucius Malfoy know about this place???
"I thought you said this place was safe!" Vernon yelled, as Harry spun around the room, shining his wandlight on the floor...
He ran to the bed, shoved at the covers... empty... he leapt to the window... it was closed... he turned around and his foot hit something soft.
The shape on the floor groaned.
Ethan had fallen off his bed and lay sleeping on the floor.
Harry's heart was pounding with leftover panic. He took a deep breath. Ethan was safe, but how on earth did Malfoy find out where... He crouched and was about to shake Ethan awake.
Hermione's scream shattered the air.
Ethan awoke with a start.
Harry jumped up. "Follow me! Stay at the top of the stairs," he hissed frantically to the three in the room. He pelted down the stairs, wand out.
Why am I always so careless? What have I done now? No matter what I do, there's always somebody left behind who gets hurt...they've learned to count on my recklessness! They bait me away, they know I'll follow a hunch...Hermione! Ron!