Two hours, and plenty bags later, they dropped their bags off in the Leaky Cauldron, with Tom, the Inn Keeper, and went into muggle London. Harry insisted that they go to a small muggle cafe, and that he pay for it.
"I'm tired." groaned Ron, as they walked out of the Leaky Cauldron. Ginny rolled her eyes and slapped Ron in the back of the head. Ron rubbed his head while Hermione laughed hysterically at their antics. Harry was too busy glaring at the guys who were staring at Ginny. They passed two boys who stared at Hermione and Ginny hungrily. "Woo! Those girls are hot!" whistled one of them, a brunette. Harry grit his teeth together and clenched his hands into fists, but kept walking. "What's wrong, mate?" asked Ron, Hermione looked at him concernedly and stopped walking. Ron and Ginny stopped too, and stared at him. Harry reluctantly stopped his fast pace and looked at the ground angrily. "It's those guys isn't it Harry? They're checking us out, Mione. And I don't mean they think we're cute. They're being dirty." flared Ginny. Ron's head snapped up. "I'll kill them." he said dangerously. "Here's your chance, here they come." muttered Harry quietly.
"Hey Baby, why are you with these geeks?" the brunette, who had made the comment earlier, asked Ginny. He slipped his arm around her waist, but she stepped away. "Get off me." Ginny spat. The other boy, a blonde, pulled at Hermione's arm, but she shrugged him off. "Go away." she said simply. "Leave them alone." Harry and Ron said in unision. "What are you gonna do?" asked the brunette, clearly the leader.
Harry's eyes flashed murderously and he walked right into the brunette's face. "Look you cocky moron, I've dealt with bigger and badder scum than you could ever dream of being. I have been on the verge of death five times in my life, and doubt very seriously it will be my last. I've battled with the most powerful man in the world and come out alive...five times. I could do away with you faster than you could snap your fingers." he whispered in a deadly calm voice, his eyes a blazing, emerald fire. "If I were you, I would run away as fast as I could, screaming, before I have you begging for mercy. To kill you in front of these witnesses would have absolutely no effect on me..So just try me."
The other boy cocked an eyebrow, but he was scared out of his mind. "The sad thing is, you aren't me. If I looked like you I think I would commit suicide. A face only a mother could love, but your mother probably doesn't even love you does she? An orphan maybe? She leave you in a garbage can as soon as she could, so she could run off with another bum, like your father probably was?"
Harry had gone rigid, then he jumped on the brunette and began to successfully bash his face in. The blonde tried to jump in, but Ron started punching him. A strong hand pulled Harry off of the other boy, and Ron off the blonde. Harry swung a firey gaze over to the person who had stopped him from commiting a murder. "Get off me, I'll kill him." Harry growled.
"Harry?" the tall, brown haired, blue eyed, finely built man said hoarsley. Harry looked at this stranger oddly. "How do you..." Harry began and then trailed off. There was a powerful flow of emotions radiating from this man. Fear, pain, love, longing. He slowly let go of Harry, Harry's eyes boring into his own. Recognition flashed in Harry's face, but only for a second. "Sorry for the disturbance. He insulted my dead parents. Said my dad was a bum, and my mum was a whore, and that they didn't love me." he said in a husky voice. Anger sprang into the man's eyes. "By all means, then continue..No..wait..I don't mean that. Lily would be furious." he said to himself, then slapped a hand over his mouth, his eyes growing round. "My dad would be proud." Harry stated. "So would my godfather, Sirius." He put heavy emphasis on Sirius' name and Ginny's eyes got big. "Excuse me Sir, but could I ask you to escort us to a local pub we know of? I would feel safer." she said, a tinge of ice in her voice. Hermione's logical brain, and Ron's slow one, had not yet figured out what was going on.
"Why...of course." the man said nervously. "I...I guess I could do that. I'm Brad by the way. You are?"
"Save the pleasantries." snapped Ginny sharply, her tone now all ice. "You may have been able to lie and charm your way out of detention, but I'm a whole new ball game." Comprehention dawned on Ron's face and he paled, while all Hermione did was get frustrated. "Let's go." Harry whispered. They went back to the Leakky Cauldron and Harry asked Tom for a private conference room.
Ron closed the door with a snap and Ginny rounded on the man furiously. "What the bloodly hell? Did you have this planned with Dumbledore? What is with him and his whole "let's keep things from Harry" complex? And you! I thought you loved Harry! Why would you want to hurt him so much? And don't you dare say that it was for his own good, because causing one person so much grief never does them well, it tears them to pieces. Tears them to pieces from the inside out! You didn't have to see the look in his eyes whenever you were mentioned. The pain flowing through his eyes. You didn't have to see him cry when he thought no one was looking. Do you have any idea how hard it is to watch someone you love hurt so much? To watch their world crumble and feel useless to help them? You weren't around to comfort him!" With that she was breathing deeply, she walked straight up to the stunned man and slapped him with all the strength in her. "You should be more than ashamed of yourself, Sirius Black. Harry lost his parents, how do you think he felt when he thought he lost you? I was afraid that he wouldn't have the will to live anymore. That he would just give up on life. I was afraid he would die, Sirius." Ginny whispered, tears now pouring freely down her face. "I couldn't give a damn about a prophecy. I don't care if he is supposed to defeat a Dark Lord. I was afraid that if he died, I would lose my only chance of love in this entire world. Someone I've loved since the day I laid eyes on him, and still love him for who he is. Not for being The Boy Who Lived. Not for being the worlds savior from the dark, but for being Harry James Potter, the sweetest, most caring, loving, loyal, proud, determined boy I've ever met. So if you for one small millisecond think that you only hurt yourself, by pretending to fall in that veil, think again. You may have had to give up Harry, but Harry had to give up you..And we had to watch Harry tear himself apart."
Sirius hung his head, and let his form change to normal. "Sirius? asked Hermione, amazed. "H..How?"
"Why mate?" asked Ron sadly, "Why?"
Harry was just sittin gin the corner with his head in his hands. "Was I that easy to figure out? I'm surprised at you Hermione, I thougth you'd figure me out as soon as you saw me." Sirius said.
"She was thinking with her heart." said Ron quietly. Hermione looked taken aback, and Sirius smiled half-heartedly.
"Don't try to change the subject Sirius!" Ginny said threateningly. "You explain yourself, and you explain yourself now."
Sirius shook his head. "You sound like your mother more and more each day. But okay, I won't say I was right, and I won't say Dumbledore was." he said. "But we thought that if I appeared to be gone, Voldemort couldn't use me to get to Harry."
"But couldn't you have told me?" asked Harry hoarsley.