Chapter 4 - Silent Rift

Hermione and Ron stared down at the pavement below from the drawing room window. They had been called for dinner once already but they couldn't bring themselves to eat yet. Harry was out there, somewhere, most likely lost, and who knew in what physical condition.

Mr Weasley and Tonks did not have any idea about when Harry had stopped following the light on the back of Mr Weasley's broom. It could have been five minutes after they set off or five minutes before they landed. They couldn't tell if he had fell off of his broom or landed safely. Mr Weasley was walking about in a shocked state and poor Tonks, who had forgotten to attach a magical connection between herself and Harry, hadn't stopped crying as she felt extremely guilty and ashamed of herself. How could a fully trained Auror bungle up such an important mission?

From what they could tell, scouts had been sent to check along the ground underneath the flight path Harry's escort took. Mundungus had been sent to stand watch over the Dursley's home just in case he turned up there. Others were placed at the Leaky Cauldron and in London, someone had been told to ride the Knight Bus until he was found. Ron remarked that he wouldn't have wanted that job.

Hermione snuggled into the comfort of Ron's broad shoulders as she watched the street below. She watched as a police car pulled up outside of Number 11 and two policemen and a dishevelled teenager climbed out from the car. One policeman held a broom.

Hermione almost made Ron deaf with the scream she let rip from her mouth.

"What is it?" Ron shouted at her as he rubbed the pain from his ears.

Hermione didn't reply but ran from the room, her bushy hair flying behind her, shouting for someone to hear that Harry was back.

"So, which house it then?" Muscly hands questioned him, his grip becoming uncomfortably tight on Harry's shoulder.

Harry tried to stall them. He wasn't sure he could tell them the exact address. Would Muggles see the house appear if he told them? "The one over there," Harry pointed vaguely down the street, hoping that someone from the Order would come down the street or would see him from the windows.

"What number?" Muscly hands asked.

Harry was just about to answer when a dark shadow fell across his face.

"May I be of service," a familiar icy voice sneered, "officer?"

Muscly hands turned around from looking at Harry to look at the speaker with the icy cold voice. Harry recognised Snape in an instant. He was wearing a black, well-tailored suit.

Harry broke the silence. "Uh," Harry mumbled looking at his feet, trying to act both ashamed and scared, "Hi, Dad."

Glancing up quickly Harry saw a brief flicker of horror play across Snape's face before it returned to its glacial calmness.

"Ahhhh," Snape said raising an eyebrow, " I see that you've found my son."

"Well, yes," the other officer said, "he tried to use a fraudulent ticket at Marble Arch station."

"We'll let him off with a warning for now," Muscly hands said, handing Snape a warning notice, "but next time he could be issued with a fine."

Snape glanced down at the notice that was now in his hand. "Thank you, officer," he said glaring at Harry, "I'm sure it will never happen again."

"My son will be duly punished of course," he added with a sneer.

As Harry looked at Snape he had the strangest feeling that he wasn't lying.

"We've patched him up for now," Muscly hands said as he released Harry's shoulder, "but we advise you to seek medical attention. It looks like he may have broken his arm."

"I'll be sure to attend to it," Snape said as he gripped Harry's shoulder and spun him around. "You know, teenagers these days, getting into all sorts of trouble," he gave what could be classified as a curt smile.

The policemen nodded, returned to their car and drove off.

Number 12 Grimmauld Place, Headquarters for The Order of the Phoenix, materialised right before Harry's eyes. Snape steered him up the front steps towards the blackened door and knocked on it. As they waited for the door to open Snape opened his mouth and began to whisper in Harry's ear, "you're very lucky I was there, Potter, you…"

Molly Weasley's face appeared, tear-stained but smiling as she pulled the door open. Snape stopped what he was saying and swept past her inside and disappeared along the corridor. Molly walked over to Harry and enveloped him in a large, comforting, motherly hug.

"Come now, dear," she said between sobs, "let's get you inside and get some food into you and fix up those injuries."

She took Harry's Firebolt from him and began to lead him inside. Harry balked at the threshold. He didn't know if he had the strength to go inside. Didn't know if he could face this house without Sirius and with that foul Kreacher lurking in the shadows. How could he be here when his Godfather was not? How could anyone understand how he felt? He considered turning around and running down the street, but the Gryffindor in him helped him take that first step into what he knew would be even more misery than what he had felt over the last few weeks.

Harry sat at the kitchen table spooning vegetable soup slowly into his mouth with his left hand as Mrs Weasley fussed over his right arm. He didn't really feel hungry.

"Oh, I think your arm is broken Harry dear," Mrs Weasley said, "did it happen when you fell off your broom?"

Harry shook his head in a no response.

"How did it happen, dear?" Mrs Weasley pried as Tonks quietly slipped into the room.

"I think he must have broken it when his cousin pushed him down the stairs," Tonks said softly as she sat down at the table.

Mrs Weasley glared at her as she continued to question Harry. " Haven't they been feeding you, dear? I'll let Dumbledore know and he'll have a word with that Aunt of yours."

A dark look appeared on Tonks face. "They've been feeding him," she said looking at Harry with glistening eyes, "he just hasn't been eating."

Mrs Weasley took a sharp intake of breath. "Harry," she said softly and bent down to give Harry another hug, "you poor dear."

Mr Weasley entered the kitchen followed by Snape.

"Professor Snape has told me all about the please–men Harry," Mr Weasley said with a concerned look on his face, "you don't know how sorry I am."

"I'm really sorry too, Harry," Tonks added, her eyes were becoming all red, "I just wasn't thinking. I was so excited about seeing you, and just wanted to get you back here as quick as I could so we could fix you up…I didn't mean for this to happen…."She trailed off and she placed her head in her hands.

Snape made a movement, seemingly uncomfortable in the situation.

"Potter," he said, breaking the awkward silence, "I expect that you will be getting on with studying your Potions. A broken arm is no excuse not to sit the exam when school returns."

Snape turned to leave.

"Severus, honestly" Mrs Weasley said following him out of the kitchen and closing the door behind her.

After having to eat more than he had ever had to in his life, under the closely watchful eye of Mrs Weasley, Harry headed upstairs to the room he shared with Ron. Harry opened the door to the room, looking forward to sinking into the soft covers of his bed and falling asleep. However, he knew that Ron and Hermione, and probably Ginny as well, would be waiting inside to hear all about his ordeal. Harry supposed that he was going to have to fend them off, and was preparing himself to announce that he would tell them all about it tomorrow when he came across a sight he was not expecting to see at this point in his life.

Hermione and Ron jumped apart from their cosy embrace on Ron's bed, startled. Ron looked as if he was sunburnt and Hermione looked slightly flushed. Hermione left her place by Ron's side and walked slowly over to Harry where she held him in a tight hug.

"I'm so glad that you're back," she whispered into his ear. She then left and headed along the corridor to the room she shared with Ginny, leaving an awkward situation in her haste.

Ron was staring at the ceiling, avoiding Harry's shocked expression and the snickering coming from the empty portrait on the wall.

Harry turned the light off, pulled his pyjamas on and dove under the covers. He didn't know what to say to Ron. He was confused. He was pleased that Ron and Hermione had finally discovered their feelings for each other, but at the same time he was feeling lonely and misplaced, with beginning thoughts of being a third wheel in their close friendship dwindling through his mind. He also felt angry with them for not telling him earlier. Once again he felt that his friends, or those people most important to him, wouldn't trust him with sensitive information.

The next day Harry awoke to a mild pressure at the end of his bed. Hermione was sitting there, a thoughtful look on her face as she waited for Harry to wake up.

Harry sat up and put his glasses on, still not sure what to say, so he glanced over at Ron's bed to see if he was awake too. Ron's bed was empty.

Hermione answered Harry's unasked question. "He's gone to Diagon Alley with his mum."

Harry looked at her, and still couldn't think of anything to say, so he tried a feeble smile.

"Is anything wrong, Harry?" Hermione asked as she studied his appearance. Even though she was expecting to see him last night – she had seen him arrive in the police car after all – she was still shocked with his appearance when he had entered the bedroom. Hermione had never seen him looking so woebegone.

"What's with you and Ron?" Harry snapped at her, feeling guilty as the words came from his mouth. He didn't feel like discussing how miserable he was, nor did he felt like talking about Sirius.

Hermione knew that Harry was hurting, so she didn't reprimand him for the tone of voice he used with her. "I thought you knew," she said calmly, "I wrote to you the other day telling you all about Ron and I. We haven't been together that long, only about a week now."

She allowed the information to sink in before she spoke to him again. "Mrs Weasley came to speak to me last night," Hermione said. "She said that you need some extra help in Potions. I'm so glad that Professor Snape has allowed you into his NEWT Potions class."

Harry stared at her. He was expecting a few more details about her relationship with Ron. He supposed though, that Hermione was trying to lessen the shock of his finding out that his two best friends had the hots for each other.

That afternoon the Weasley's, Harry and Hermione made a trip to St Mungo's Hospital to have Harry's arm healed. When they returned to Number 12 Grimmauld Place, they celebrated Harry's (belated) 16th Birthday together. Harry had a great time, although every time he caught a glimpse of his friends he felt slightly lonely in the crowded room.

Over the last remaining weeks of the holidays Harry retreated to Sirius's old room to study Potions. He knew (and he suspected Hermione and Ron did as well) that he was avoiding them. At the moment, he found Buckbeak better company than the two young lovers. If he wasn't walking in on them in compromising positions, he was looking up from his Potions books to gooey-eyed stares. He didn't know how to act around them – them being together was still so new and strange to Harry.

He also found that by avoiding them he didn't have to talk about Sirius, and he wasn't tempted to discuss the Prophecy with them which he supposed was all for the better. He didn't want to rain on their happiness. The Potions study was also keeping his mind focused on a task, and he only thought about Sirius and the Prophecy late at night when he was trying to sleep.

By the end of the holidays Harry had slowly begun to get used to Ron and Hermione being together, although he still found it quite awkward at times. He had always expected that they would be together, especially now that he thought he wouldn't be around to enjoy their company for much longer.