Disclaimer: Don't own it. If I owned it, Sirius would've never died.

Chapter Twenty: The Attack

In adversity, remember to keep an even mind.

-Horace

Sirius sat, munching on Molly Weasley's famous shepherds pie. He looked around the room. Remus, Hermione and Arthur were engaged in conversation about the prejudice towards werewolves; Ron, Ginny and Bill were arguing heatedly about the Chudley Cannons' chance of winning the Quidditch League, Fred and George were discussing something softly under their breaths us Molly looked on disapprovingly; while Anna and Tonks sat side by side, nostalgically reminiscing about their Hogwarts days.

A loud crack! resonated around the room and the flames in the fireplace quickly turned a bright, emerald green. Albus Dumbledore emerged, hurriedly striding into the room.

Everyone remained silent, gaping at the elderly man.

Anna broke the silence. "What? Albus, what's wrong?"

"Harry has been attacked."

Sirius stood up so abruptly; his chair tipped over and skidded across the room. "What? When? Who?" he asked in quick succession.

Dumbledore held up his hands. "Sirius, please calm down. Harry is all right, as far as I know. He was attacked minutes ago, by two Dementors in Little Whinging. The Ministry is trying to expel him for using the Patronus Charm. I have to go there now. I need someone to contact Harry immediately, telling him not to surrender his wand, not to do any magic and not to leave his Aunt and Uncles house. I'll come back shortly once I've sorted all this out." And with that, he was gone.

"I'll go," Arthur said, quickly jumping out of his seat and jogging towards the door.

There was a numb silence.

Sirius picked his chair up and slowly sank into it, vaguely registering the others voices. His mind drifted miles away.

A scabbed and rotting hand clasped his jaw in a tight grip, the black folds of the spectral creatures cloak swarming around him. The hooded creature took a ragged, rasping breath as it lowered its face to the man lying limp in its arms.

He was dimly aware of a soft, white light radiating around him before it flickered and went out, leaving him alone in the darkness with the creature before him.

Memories flooded his vision as the Dementors face sunk lower and lower, its black mouth widening slightly. A beautiful, redheaded woman clothed in a long, white dress danced slowly, moving against a tall, black haired man with round glasses perched precariously on his nose, both far away in the euphoria of their love.

The same woman lay cushioned against innumerable pillows, smiling luminously as the tall, bespectacled man placed a small, soft bundle into his arms, in which lay a tiny baby with bright green eyes and his father's messy black hair.

"Godfather, Padfoot?"

The same woman and man now lay amongst the ruins of a small cottage, their pale, lifeless eyes staring up at him, their fear and pain evident on their hollow, once-lively faces.

The creature lowered its hood, its gaping mouth now only scant inches from his face. He drew a ragged breath as he felt his memories, his happiness ebb away-

"Sirius?" a quiet, hesitant voice asked from his side.

Sirius turned to see Anna on her knees beside his chair, her face worried and questioning. She lifted a soft hand to gently caress his cheek. "Are you okay? You sort of drifted away there for a while..."

"The Dementors. I was just... remembering."

Anna nodded consolingly. "It sort of just creeps up on you like that, doesn't it? The past?"

"Yeah," he muttered, looking past Anna at the table.

Arthur had arrived back at the kitchen and was currently having a whispered conversation in the corner with Tonks and Molly. Fred, George and Ginny were sitting uncharacteristically quiet, shotting the occasional apprehensive glance at their parents. Ron and Hermione were sitting beside each other, each looking extremely nervous and worried, their hands conspicuously absent from the tabletop. Remus was sitting opposite Sirius and was closely studying his best friend.

Sirius smiled reassuringly at the other man.

"Albus messaged a few minutes ago. The Ministry aren't expelling Harry. Maybe you should write to him, I'm sure he would want to hear from you," Remus said quietly.

Sirius nodded, standing up from the table.

"Well, one thing's for sure," Arthur said as he, Tonks and Molly took their seats. "We can't leave Harry in Little Whinging anymore. He'll have to come and stay here."

"YES!"

A/N: Hehe... I think I'll leave it up to you to decide who said that. Review!