Happy 4th to all you Americans!! And if your not an American, hope you have a good day anyway.

Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place, Again

There was the familiar jerking sensation before they arrived, of all places, outside number 12, Grimmauld Place.

Harry couldn't really say that he was surprised at the destination—where else would they've taken him—but now that he was here, he wasn't quite sure of what to think.

Before he had time to really try though, he was ushered inside. The Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix was in absolute tumult; people were coming and leaving, unlocking and locking the front door (which was quite a feat), talking, walking, casting spells, and just causing quite an uproar altogether. Not to mention, the portrait of Sirius's mum was screaming as shrilly as ever.

Sirius...

"Go into the kitchen, Harry. Molly should be down there—you look absolutely starved." Professor McGonagall said before being taken aside by a witch Harry didn't recognize. Mundungus had just disappeared altogether.

"Oh, Harry dear! We've been so worried! All we knew was that Death Eaters were in your neighborhood! Are you okay?" Mrs. Weasley said, all in one breath, as soon as he entered the room. After being pulled into a giant hug, she stood back to look at him. "My goodness! You're thinner than I've ever seen you! Have those relatives of yours been feeding you?"

"Yeah..." Harry mumbled—they were feeding him; he just chose not to eat. In no time, she had pulled out several pots and pans and began cooking.

"My God, Harry. You look terrible." Said Ron, who had just come down the stairs.

"Nice to see you too." He said in reply. He was not in the best mood all of the sudden.

"Sorry, it's just you do. You're really pale..."

Choosing to ignore him for the moment, Harry sat down, just as Mrs. Weasley set a humongous plate of food in front of him. Ron went up to fix a plate for himself, but his mother slapped him on the hand.

"You've already had dinner, Ronald."

"But Mum, I'm hungry!"

"I don't know why; you had thirds! And besides, breakfast is only a few hours away."

"A few hours? More like eight!" Ron mumbled exasperatedly as he sat down next to Harry. "So, how's your summer been?" He asked, looking longingly at his friend's large plate.

"Great." Harry said flatly, jabbing his fork into a link of sausage.

"How were the relatives?" Ron asked, not noticing Harry's aggravation.

"Peachy. Absolutely chum." He spat. How could Ron be so ignorant? Didn't he realize that Sirius, Harry's godfather, had just died, not even a month ago? Didn't he care? "I'm going to bed." He said, slamming his fork down, sausage still on it. "'Night." And with that, he stood up and left, not having eaten anything.

He arrived in the room where he and Ron had stayed last summer. Everything seemed to be just as they left it, and Phineas' empty portrait still hung above his bed.

They still don't trust me any further than they can see me.

Realizing that he had left his trunk and the rest of his belongings at the Dursley's, Harry threw his shoes off and flopped into bed. He might worry about his trunk tomorrow. Or today. Or when ever the hell he got around to it. Might.

Ron came in a few minutes later, and Harry pretended to be asleep. He heard the rustling of a Chocolate Frog wrapper and very loud chewing, obviously from Ron. Annoyed, he pulled the covers further over his head, but his friend seemed to take no notice.

Before long, snores could be heard coming from the other bed, but Harry could not get to sleep. The memories kept coming back to him...

Bellatrix cast the spell and—Harry stood up abruptly before he let the images go further. He stepped quietly out the bedroom door, as to not wake Ron.

Though I doubt the Whomping Willow could wake hi just now.

Harry snuck down the hallway to the banister overlooking the entrance. Mrs. Weasley was sitting on one of the benches alone, looking expectantly at the door. She was wringing her hands.

He stood there for a moment, unsure of what to do. He supposed that the appropriate thing to do was to go down and comfort her. She had always done the same for him....

He tip-toed down the stairs somewhat reluctantly; what was he supposed to do? He had never been very good at that sort of thing.

Just then, the front door opened, and in stepped Moody, Tonks, Lupin, Kingsley, Mr. Weasley, Bill, and several other members of the Order Harry didn't recognize.

Mrs. Weasley rushed over to her son and husband, pulling them into a tight hug. "I got so worried when you didn't come back right away!" Harry heard, even from three flights up.

"I went back to help at Arabella's house." Mr. Weasley said.

"How is she?" She asked worriedly.

"Not too well..." Bill said.

Harry turned around and went back up the stairs, feeling lonelier than before.

When he finally woke up, Ron was gone and the sun had long been up. He looked down at his watch. It was 1:46 PM. Someone had brought his luggage from the Dursley's and Mrs. Weasley had left a rather large sandwich on his bedside table.

Harry pulled on a different pair of clothes from his trunk and, picking up the sandwich, left the room. Taking one of the back staircases so as to not meet up with anyone, he went to Buckbeak's room.

"Hey there boy." He said as he petted the hippogriff. Buckbeak stomped his hoof and squawked in reply. "No-one has come to see you, have they?" Harry said as he sat down on the bed and took a bite of his sandwich. He still didn't really have an appetite, but Buckbeak, on the other hand, was looking longingly at it.

"Here." He said, tossing the sandwich toward him. "I didn't want it anyway."

Buckbeak snapped his beak in thanks and downed the sandwich in one gulp.

Several hours later there was a knocking on the door. Harry lay still, unsure of whether or not he wanted any company—besides Buckbeak, that is.

Whoever it was knocked once more before just coming in. It was Ron.

"Hey mate, Mum says dinner is ready." He said as he craned his neck to see around the curtains of the bed, which Harry had pulled to.

Harry didn't reply.

"Damn, he sleeps a lot." Ron said to himself. Harry did his best to repress a snort; last night was the first time he had slept in ages.

Ron left the room, but it wasn't long before someone else entered it, this time, Mrs. Weasley.

Harry heard the soft chink of glass on wood; presumably his dinner. Then she walked over to the side of the bed, and took off his glasses for him. "Poor dear..." She whispered. "He's been through so much."

You've got that right.

She stood there for a few moments more, and Harry could've sworn he heard her sniffle.

Later that evening, Harry was wandering around the back passages of the house, for lack of anything better to do (he still didn't really feel like having contact with anyone), when he heard voices coming from a door a few paces up.

"...According to Remus, he has eaten hardly anything since summer began!" It was Mrs. Weasley. "All he would do was run all day, but here he just sleeps! I'm worried about him, Arthur. He's taking this even worse then I expected." Harry knew it was wrong to eavesdrop, but what did she think he was taking so badly? Had Dumbledore told the Weasleys about the prophecy?

Harry put his ear to the door.

"I know Molly, I know. We're all worried about him. He's just not acting like himself, I know. But think, how did you react when you lost your godfather?" Said Mr. Weasley knowingly.

Harry let out a sigh of relief. They were talking about Sirius' death. He was about to leave, but Mrs. Weasley's next sentence caught his attention.

"I was never very close to Derrick Avery, at least not once the war began." She replied rather coldly.

Wasn't Avery a Death Eater?

"Oh, yes. I'd forgotten about that..." Mr. Weasley said lightly. "What about when your father...died? Sirius was the closest thing to a father Harry ever had."

Mrs. Weasley sniffled and there was a pause. "I—I cried for days and refused to leave my room..."

Another pause, then: "I think you and Harry have more in common than you realize." Mr. Weasley said so softly that Harry had to strain to hear.

"But Harry's just a boy! I had a family to grow up with, and when I lost them, I had you, Arthur! It's just not fair for him; he's so young!"

Harry was quite taken aback. He had no idea Mrs. Weasley had lost her family, too. Actually, he had never really thought of her having a family outside of Mr. Weasley and their children.

"I think he has proven on more than one occasion that he is no longer a child, Molly." Mr. Weasley said softly.

"I just...I wish there was something I could do for him..." She mumbled.

"Hey mate! You're awake!" Said a voice behind Harry. It was Ron.

A/N Yeah, okay so nothing really happened in this chapter, except the beginning of Harry's nocturnal tendencies, which I just think is interesting—there isn't much of a point to it. I don't like this chapter much myself, either. But, I do owe you a chapter after being away at summer camp for three weeks. I've been home for a week already, and I'm just getting around to updating! I really am sorry about that! No excuse, no excuse... shakes head

Next chapter will be under another title, but i'm not sure what just yet. Sorry about all the changes as far as that goes! Oh, and get your wet noodles out and ready, because i've revised chapters one and two. Cringes at the inevitable flogging

One last thing, with all the Molly in this chappie, it may seem a bit er...slashy, but it's not, I swear. It was just important to show her as a motherly figure, and Harry's loneliness.

Well, anyway, I think you should all go and read my profile to see if you can find any subliminal messages, then obey them...lol

-Liseli