My apologies yet again, for the long wait in between chapters! I hate to say it, but it will probably be that long, if not a little longer in between waits, because I'm becoming very busy this month.

Also, thank you to Hakkai - Gojyo - Goku – Sanzo and Rosemary the Rubix Cube for your reviews. Rosemary, I really appreciate the tips you are giving me! Punctuation has never been my best subject, but I am trying harder! I have no beta, so I just read over it a few times, so my apologies for errors. I also always thought that O.W.L.s were only the "Outstanding" grade you got. My mistake. (

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Chapter 9 "Eavesdropping"

The next few days were spent outside, because with the welcome of August among them, it was absolutely perfect conditions for Quidditch practice. Even with his latest sadness upon finding an old sibling picture of Sirius and Regulus, Harry couldn't pass this up.

His moods increased amazingly. All he had to do was walk to their hidden- from-view field, even equipped with three goals on either side of the pitch, and Harry would become filled with the excitement and exhilaration that only Quidditch could bring him.

Ron's skills had improved tremendously. He was getting to be just as good as his winning-obsessed, old Captain, Oliver Wood. The goal keeping he'd done to help Gryffindor win the Quidditch Cup had given him a new outlook. Ginny, who was Seeker last year, after Harry's awful banishment from the game by Umbridge, was a superb Chaser. She definitely knew what she was talking about when she'd told him that she was a better Chaser. Sneaking into the broom closet as a child and flying was definitely showing its results on the pitch. Hermione, on the other hand, was more of the crowd, rather than an actual player. She sat on the sidelines and kept score, cheering them all on. The twins, however, were still just as good, if not better, flyers than when they were Beaters for their house.

Today, since there was five of them playing, Ron goal-kept for both teams, trying his best to block out the Quaffle from everyone. And since there was no need for a seeker, or Beaters, for that matter, Harry and Fred were on a team, versus, Ginny and George. Half the time was spent just throwing the Quaffle around and showing each other different tactics and maneuvers to improve their game. But once they had a real game going, it lasted most of the day, even Hermione got tired of it and decided to go in for some lunch, but never returned. It was tied for most of the game, one block after the other, one score after the other. When the sun decided it was time to set, the score was 60-60, Ginny in possession of the Quaffle.

"Ooh! We WIN!" Ginny cried, stealthily making it past Ron's maneuvers and scoring for her side.

"Bloody hell, I'm beat," yelled Ron, trying to make himself heard over Ginny and George's whoops.

"Me too, I'm starved. Pity Hermione didn't bring anything back," said Harry, laughing as George taunted Fred over losing to his little sister, while Harry was rubbing his grumbling stomach.

"Shut-up George, or else I won't be the only one testing Supreme Slugs, except you'll be asleep..." retorted Fred, giving his twin a can't- wait-till-you-fall-asleep glare.

They headed for the dirt. Complete twilight washing over them as they landed onto the firm, grassy ground. Harry swung his beloved Firebolt over his shoulder, the rest following the suit. They were just about to leave the pitch completely, when something caught Harry's eye and he stopped abruptly, staring in the darkness into the direction the movement came from.

He removed himself from the group and walked towards the woods. It was pitch black, with only the crescent moon and a few scattered, twinkling stars for a source of light. He plunged his hand into his pocket and held out his wand.

"Harry?" whispered Ginny in a worried voice, and from the sounds of it, they were all close behind him, tiptoeing noiselessly.

Harry held up his hand to quiet them. He headed further, the trees only about a foot away. The bush made another sudden movement, and Harry saw a pair of gleaming eyes, and could've sworn he heard paws or feet, he couldn't tell which, quietly running off into the distance.

He pulled back the branches, only to find Crookshanks purring loudly at the sight of them. Harry took a deep breath, somewhat relieved, but he had a feeling that there was something else there as well, other than Hemione's part-cat, part-kneazle pet.

"Oh, it's just you Crookshanks," sighed Ginny, picking up the cat, it's bottlebrush tail swishing back and forth as she held it.

"C'mon, lets go," said Ron, "it's a little creepy out here."

"Yeah, just a tad," said George.

So they all headed back towards Grimmauld Place, the only sound they heard after encountering Crookshanks was his purring and their feet crunching against the dirt. Not one of them dared looking to the side while heading back to the quarters, only staring forward, focusing on the door.

As Harry walked into the house, he was greeted with the delicious smell of dinner drifting throughout the first floor. Starving, he headed for the kitchen, where they all sat down and waited for Mrs. Weasley's cooking. Hermione came in soon after, looking clean and hair its normal amount of frizziness. She looked nothing like the rest, Harry especially; whose untidy jet-black hair was a disaster area. It looked as if he'd just walked out of hurricane winds, into the calm wind-free dwelling.

"Where were you today?" asked Ron.

"Well, your little game got really boring, so I came back in to do some reading and talk with Remus."

With that, Harry looked around and saw Lupin sitting in the kitchen, his foot propped up against another chair, reading the Evening Prophet. He looked worn out and had purple colored bags under his eyes, but looked happily in Harry's direction, giving him a grin, and then looking back to the paper.

Harry sat down next to Ron and Tonks, who was also joining them for dinner this evening. Today, she had her short, bright, bubblegum color hair and a violet shirt, which had the words, Weird Sisters, glowing on the front.

For dinner, Mrs. Weasley cooked up some chicken potpie with flaky bread, boiled potatoes spiced with herbs and drenched in butter, warm butter rolls, and some homemade ice cream. By the time dinner was over, there wasn't much food to clean up after. Everyone scarfed it all at the speed of light. Harry and the others especially, since none of them had any lunch for the day. After finishing the last of his homemade ice cream, Harry was fit to bursting, his pants felt way snugger than when he'd put them on this morning.

Thankfully, no one had asked him about his vision at dinner. Harry figured that Snape must've informed Dumbledore, because no questions were asked of him yet.

"Alright, why don't you all go into the sitting room, you've been outside all day, I think you all should just give it a rest for the rest of the evening," said Mrs. Weasley, still a little upset for no one coming in to eat the lunches she prepared for them.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione went off into their own little corner, while the twins and Ginny decided to have a game of Gobstones. Once they were out of earshot, they each settled down into squashy chairs.

Harry, with some help from Ron, told Hermione about his vision of the wooded area, their visit with Snape, and the newly discovered room the two of them had come across. Hermione's first response was that they should've just gone back to their rooms instead of hiding from Mrs. Weasley.

"What if you would've gotten into trouble? Or saw something that you shouldn't have. That door must've been locked for good reason," Hermione said, upon first hearing of the mystery room.

"So, back to our discussion. Why do you think it was locked? I mean, there was some pretty wicked stuff in there," asked Ron.

"Well, Lupin, or your mum and dad, Ron, probably didn't want anyone to see it. Maybe because of all the gadgets in there. Or the books in there could be inappropriate or something. They are probably used for detecting Dark Arts or people from V-Voldemort's crowd," replied Hermione, who was trying particularly hard to start saying Voldemort's name, mainly for Harry's sake.

"There were a lot of weird things in there. I even came across a shelf with objects used for spying," said Harry, appreciating Hermione's effort. Meanwhile, Ron, as expected, flinched, but hadn't said a word.

"Although I do wish I could've had a look at some of those books you found, Ron, they sound really interesting," complained Hermione.

"Maybe you can..." said Ron.

"You don't mean..." whispered Harry.

"No, Ron, we couldn't, we really shouldn't. What if we get caught?" said Hermione, her words sounding very rule abiding.

"Not if we don't get Harry's cloak out! No one would ever give it a thought! Unless Mad-Eye's prowling around at one o'clock in the morning," said Ron, a hint of excitement in his voice.

Harry wasn't quite sure what to say to make Ron change his mind. He hadn't told either of them about the pictures he'd found of Sirius and his family. After finding them in the room, he had no real desire to ever be in that strange room again. It would just bring back the thoughts that crossed his mind the last time he went there. And he certainly didn't want Ron and Hermione seeing them. It would just bring the topic of discussing Sirius to the surface again, and Harry really didn't want that, not just yet, anyway.

"What? You think it's a bad plan?" questioned Ron, seeing the frown upon Harry's face, sounding a little letdown.

"What? Oh, no. It's good...I guess. I was only just thinking about that room, that's all. Just wondering why it's there," lied Harry, only just realizing that he must've had a frown on his face, from thinking.

Hermione gave him a doubtful look, probably figuring that wasn't at all what Harry was thinking.

"Well then, when do we do it? How about tonight? I really want to finishing looking at those jinxes and curses!" said Ron, finally breaking the uncertain silence.

"I don't know Ron, I don't think going in that room is a smart thing to do..." said Hermione, her reply was hesitant.

"C'mon, Harry! Don't you want to go have a look in that room again?" cried Ron, his look pleading for someone to take his side.

"Well...I...er...all right—"said Harry, still unsure of himself and the trip to the room.

"Great!" said Ron, cutting Harry off in mid-sentence. Harry could read from just his face that he was full of excitement and anxiousness.

So after going up to their sleeping quarters, they fell asleep. And when it felt like Harry had just closed his eyes, he was being wakened by Ron's eager attempt to rouse him. It looked as though Ron hadn't slept at all, but stayed awake till it was time to go down to the mysterious room.

Harry shoved the heels of his hands into his eyes, little stars forming in his vision. His attempt to wake himself was useless, so he sat up and grabbed blindly for his cloak at the bottom of his trunk. He felt its silver, swishy material and pulled it out.

Ron stood by the door, waiting. They pulled the cloak over themselves. It was hard to believe that once, he, Ron, and Hermione had all fit comfortably inside the cloak. Now, it was even a challenge for just the two of them. Ron was very tall, but Harry wasn't far behind, so they both had to hunch over in order to remain hidden inside the cloak.

They headed down to the floor below them, heading very slowly, to Hermione's and Ginny's room. Hermione was right inside the entrance when Harry quietly opened the door. Her eyes had a reproachful look to them, and still seemed unsure about the whole plan.

It was almost impossible that they could make it to the room, concealed under the cloak. Very slowly, but surely, they reached the place where the room door should be.

"Where is it?" whispered Ron, a slight irritation in his voice from hunching over for so long.

"I don't know, are you sure it was here?" asked Hermione, sounding annoyed herself.

"Yes! Of course I'm sure! Right past that picture of some old hag. It was right here, I swear! Wasn't it here, Harry? Remember?" whispered Ron, his voice louder because of Hermione's doubts.

"Er...yeah, I think so," said Harry. He was not all that upset that they hadn't found the mystery room.

"Oh, well, Ron. Maybe it's better. Now we can just get back to our rooms and no one gets in trouble," said Hermione, sounding a little reliever herself.

They all headed back down to Hermione's room to drop her off. Harry and Hermione were content on heading back their rooms for some sleep, but when Ron finally decided to give up, walked huffily beside Harry.

This was somewhat uncomfortable for Harry, mainly because he was sandwiched in the middle, and Hermione was sticking as close as possible, terrified of being seen, and Ron was just sulking.

They were on their way down the stairs to the floor below, when they heard someone talking in a nearby room.

"....don't know, these attacks could be serious," said the voice.

At the sound of attacks, the three friends nodded at each other, and headed for the doorway. They didn't go in, but stood where the door let the crackling fire's brightness shine through the crack.

Luckily, the two people were talking at just the right volume to be overheard even outside the room.

Harry knew that one of them must be a man's voice, it was lower and he sounded serious, whatever they were discussing.

"....Remus, you must keep watch. With Lucius back in with the crowd again, Voldemort has everyone in his inner circle. Severus has informed me of no meetings yet, but I still think there's some danger in leaving the house for anything just yet," said the man, who Harry instantly recognized as Dumbledore.

"Okay, Albus. I'll try my best, I don't think Harry's going to like this idea. Well, I know he won't like this idea," said Lupin.

"I understand. I'm sure he'll be quite upset when he finds out he can no longer go and practice Quidditch, but once he knows why, Remus, maybe he'll understand," said Dumbledore.

"Okay, sir, I'll tell him tomorrow morning," said Lupin. He sounded very tired and a little restless.

"Well, sorry I can talk longer, but I really must be going. I shall be meeting with Fudge at the Ministry for a little meeting. Good night Remus," said Dumbledore. And seconds later, Harry heard the familiar sound of floo powder in the fireplace and a quiet muttering of "Ministry of Magic."

The only person left in the room now was Lupin. He seemed to be bustling around, possibly tidying up or putting on pajamas to turn in for the night.

Harry assumed that this was his room. Knowing that even though he shouldn't, he did it anyway. Harry turned the corner to take a quick peek at yet another room he'd never seen before. It was quite small, the bed was still made from this morning, and everything had a place to be put. His clothes were neatly folded on a bedside chair, where his shoes were also laying. The fire was still crackling merrily, which gave the room a warm glow to it. Lupin also had books scattered throughout the room. All of them, from Harry's view, were mainly Defense books. Harry figured that when Lupin was the Defense teacher in his third year, he'd bought books on it too.

Then, Harry came across a few pictures that Lupin had on his nightstand. There were three in all, just like in the mystery room. All of which had familiar people in them, who Harry had known at one point or another.

The first one Harry looked at was a school picture. Harry figured it was taken at Hogwarts, because they all had robes on that had the Gryffindor lion crest on embossed on it. From left to right, it showed Remus, James, Sirius, and—to Harry's disgust—Peter. They looked like they were about Harry's age, maybe a little older. They looked like they were having the times of their lives, the way they were laughing in the frame.

Another one had the same picture that Mad-Eye Moody showed Harry just last year. Harry looked away from this one quickly, because the picture still caused him to feel a little sadness for the unaware people in it.

The last one Harry looked at had himself in it. His tiny self looked so small that Harry assumed that he had to have been just born not long ago, or no later than six months. His dad and mum were in it. His dad's pinky finger was being gripped by Harry's little hand and squeezed tightly. On the right side of his dad was his mother, who was smiling happily upon Harry. Then, on the left side of his father was Lupin who was holding Harry, and looked happy, but looked that he was holding him very firmly, terrified of dropping little baby Harry. Beside Remus was Sirius. He was smiling up towards the camera, his pinky finger also being held by Harry.

Harry smiled at the picture, realizing that when Hagrid sent out for pictures for Harry's photo album, Lupin must've sent a copy of it. Harry thought back of that day and tried to imagine it in his head. But soon he was brought back down to earth by Hermione's urgent whispers.

"Harry! Oh, c'mon, Harry!" she whispered, trying to persuade him to move. But before he could react, Ron was steering him away, and down the hall.

By the time Harry and Ron reached their sleeping quarters, Harry was beat. He fell down onto his feathery, fluffy, and very warm bed, and set his head onto his equally soft pillow. He hadn't even had time to take off his glasses before he drifted off to sleep.

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"Mmm...that looks delicious Mrs. Weasley!" said Hermione, licking her lips hungrily.

"Lets go mum! My stomach sounds like it might explode from all the grumbling!" complained Fred, rubbing his exceptionally loud belly.

"Patience, Fred, patience!" cried Mrs. Weasley, setting the numerous plates of breakfast onto the table, along with an ice-cold jug of pumpkin juice.

Harry dug in quickly, before the food was reduced to crumbs. Most didn't talk today, but sat and enjoyed the friendly silence as they ate in peace.

Afterwards, everyone left the kitchen, but, as Harry predicted, Lupin held him back. Mrs. Weasley didn't leave this time, but stayed behind to possibly back Lupin up.

"Harry, a word?" asked Lupin.

"Okay...sure," said Harry, trying to sound curious.

Harry sat back down next to Lupin, who folded his paper up neatly and laid it on the wooden table.

"Well...I'll just get right down to it. You see—er—since you are in danger, hiding from Voldemort and all, we all think it's a bit...unwise for you to be wandering outside. You could be being watched," said Lupin, trying, with some difficulty, to partially sugarcoat what he was saying.

"Yes, dear. It's the safest thing for you to do," Mrs. Weasley chimed in.

"Yes, and since you aren't permitted, to be leaving the house before absolutely necessary, I'm afraid you won't be able to have any more Quidditch games out in the field. We have reason to believe that there could possibly be people easily watching you from the woods," added Lupin.

"It's for the best dear, and for the others as well. So they won't be going out for practices either, so you won't be missing anything really," said Mrs. Weasley.

Harry thought this was crazy-talk. Quidditch was the thing that kept him sane in this house. He hadn't given it much thought last night, but it was now sinking in. No Quidditch? No leaving this horrible house until 'absolutely necessary'? This was going to be difficult. But then the night he discovered Crookshanks in the bushes and that mysterious running in the distance popped into his mind.

"And...I'm afraid there's more. Since you aren't allowed to leave Grimmauld Place..."

Harry already knew what was coming, it was obvious.

"...you can't go to Diagon Alley either. But you and the others will have their things. Mrs. Weasley will be going into London today to get everyone's things."

"I'm sorry, you can't do anything dear, but it's for the best! Also, if you don't mind, could you tell the others that I'll be going into Diagon Alley today, and that they give me their lists of school supplies?" asked Mrs. Weasley. She sounded polite, but Harry knew this was more of an order rather than a simple question.

"Sure, Mrs. Weasley."

"Thank you dear, and if you could, do it now, so I'll be ready when I'm done tidying up?"

Harry left the room, depressed that he couldn't leave this place, but figured, it wasn't the end of the world, he'll be able to fly again once Quidditch season starts at Hogwarts.

Then something hit him. Would he be able to play Quidditch once he was back at Hogwarts? Surely with Umbridge gone, his lifetime ban had be lifted. He thought about it no more, because he didn't want to wallow in the fact that he couldn't play Quidditch.

He walked in and told the rest to give Mrs. Weasley their school lists, and anything else they needed.

"Well, I think well be going in too. I'd like to stop in on Lee and see how things are going with the shop and the new workers," said Fred, and got up and followed George out of the sitting room.

Harry ran up to the second floor and pulled his list out of his trunk. Soon, all the Hogwarts-bound children were shoving their papers in Mrs. Weasley's direction, leaving her a little irritated.

"Alright, children! Ginny, would you just wait? Ron, just write down the potions you need restored! Don't worry, Hermione, I promise to get all your books, along with the extras you put down!" cried Mrs. Weasley.

Harry stood in the corner laughing as Mrs. Weasley listened to the orders of the others. His was already in the stack of the lists, so he left the room to sit by the very comfortable and welcoming fire across the hall.

Ron and Hermione came in soon after. Hermione still had the whole letter intact. She plopped herself down of the rug, where Crookshanks was laying. His ginger colored fur looking like an extremely small and odd fur rug.

"Look at this! You know, in all the excitement of the O.W.L.s, I forgot to read the rest of this," said Hermione, her voice trailing off as she started to read the papers.

"Who cares? When do we ever read those. All they ever say is that, as usual, we'll be leaving the Hogwarts Express on September 1st at 11:00 am," said Ron. He was now sitting in a chair across from Harry grabbing his Chocolate Frog card collection folder from a nearby table.

"It's different this time. Yeah, there's the usual letter, Ron, but there's another paper behind it!" said Hermione matter-of-factly.

"Really? Read it," asked Harry, becoming a little curious.

Ron seemed not to care, because he was still flipping through his folder looking at cards, but his head was cocked slightly and was flicking the pages too quickly to be reading them.

"It says here," Hermione read, "that there will be extra precautions taken at Platform nine and three quarters. Aurors and other Ministry workers will be outside the train entrance, and inside. I guess they're taking this danger thing really serious! Well, that's always good, I guess. At least no one will be able to wander off at all or even—"

"Oh, blimey, would you just get on with it Hermione?" yelled Ron, his face no longer staring at the collection of cards.

"Fine...fine," she snapped. "Anyways, they will also be on the train on our way to Hogwarts. And they'll be inspecting the train periodically just to check on things."

"Is that it?" asked Harry, somewhat unsatisfied with information given. "It sounds like their leaving things out. I wonder what will happen once we get to the school? Do you think they'll even be like Umbridge and check in on lessons?"

"Nah...I don't think anyone would follow that old hag's rules," said Ron, punching his fist in his hands out of revulsion for the lady.

"You know, speaking of teachers and Umbridge, I wonder who will be the Defense teacher this year? You'd think they'd be a little more cautious, especially after that Mad-Eye Moody imposter," wondered Hermione aloud.

"Yeah, you'd think. Maybe they'll just give it to an Auror or something..." Ron said.

"Probably," said Harry. "I hope its Tonks...she'd be fun."

"Yeah, but she's part of the Order, Dumbledore needs her on guard," added Hermione, shooting down Harry's idea.

Soon, Ginny joined them, and she gave them her two cents about who the teacher should be, and some nasty and quite snide remarks about Umbridge.

The four spent the day inside, as enforced, making fun of Umbridge, who in the world the next teacher would be, and what crazy ideas the new Defense teacher will spring upon them in their next year at Hogwarts.