A/N: Originally, I planned to have this chapter out only a day r two after the last one. However, things never go as planned. Thanks to everyone who has reviewed. As always, it is nice to know that people enjoy my work.

I'd like to take this time to encourage everyone to check out the C2 community that I belong to, because there are some great fics archived. Also, I definitely want to recommend those on my favorites list. These are some of the best fics out there, and for those of you who love Harry/Ginny stories, the majority of them include that ship.

Speaking of Ginny...well, I'm not going to say anything...

CHAPTER 8 – Saying Goodbye

A thick stream of water, nearly scalding hot, ran the length of his neck and on down his bare back, causing the skin to flush and to look rather raw. The feeling was soothing, however, and Harry found immense pleasure in letting the water act as a relaxant. He had been standing underneath the stream like this for almost fifteen minutes when he finally turned it off. Upon entering his bedroom, wrapped only in a towel, he felt a resurgence of energy. Hot showers often had this effect on him, and he was glad to have been allowed enough time after the morning's physical training session to simply stand under the water and let his problems flow away down the drain. He felt as ready as he possibly could be, to face what he had been truly dreading all morning; the reading would begin soon. As he began to dress, there was a knock on the door.

"Hold on. I'm almost dressed," he said as he pulled his plain black t-shirt over his damp head. "Okay. Come on in."

The door slowly opened, and Lupin took a few steps forward. "Are you ready?" he asked.

"Yeah, I just said so, and as you can see..." Harry gestured to himself.

"That isn't what I asked. I meant, are you ready for, you know...the reading?"

"Oh," he glanced towards his feet. "Yeah, I guess. About as ready as I can be, anyway," he replied glumly.

"I understand how you feel." He paused, and then with true sincerity in his voice, continued, "You know, I will be right there with you. If you need anything, or if you –"

Looking up, Harry cut him off, "I know. Thank you."

"You are very welcome." They both stood rooted to their current spots, not speaking for a moment and glancing everywhere but at one another, until Lupin finally broke the slightly awkward silence. "So, we should hide your things, just in case."

"Huh?" he asked, confused.

"Your things, we should hide them," Lupin repeated.

"What do you mean, hide them?" he asked, curious as to where, how, or why they would hide his trunk and other items.

"Well, in case anyone comes in here today, we should do something about them. The easiest thing would probably just be to move them," said Lupin.

"Could we just take them into your room?" asked Harry.

"Umm, well, we could. But, I think we should be extra careful. I'll tell you what. You go on downstairs and wait in the kitchen. People should be arriving any minute now, so you can be there to greet everyone." After thinking about this for a second, he added, "Just tell them you arrived about thirty minutes ago."

"I know, I know. We've been over this. What are you going to do with my stuff?" he asked.

"I was about to get to that part. While you are downstairs, I will take everything up to Sirius' room, and to be safe, put them in the meadow. And don't worry, Buckbeak won't mess with anything. Plus, it will give Hedwig a chance to stretch her wings."

"I hadn't thought about that. She'll love it."

"Splendid. Now, why don't you go on down and wait. I'll be down in a few minutes," he said as he stepped aside so that Harry could exit from the room.

"Right, then, see you down there," he said as he stepped into the hallway and descended the stairs.

His wait in the kitchen was brief. In fact, no more than a minute passed before the door swung open and he was greeted by a smiling Tonks.

"Heya Harry," she said. Before he could respond though, she stepped aside to reveal another woman standing in the door way. "This is me mum, Andromeda," she said motioning to the older version of herself.

Harry smiled, and again was about to speak, when he was beaten to the punch. "Harry, how nice to meet you," said Andromeda, stepping forward with her hands outstretched.

He stood, and made to grasp her hand, but was instead pulled into a quick, tight hug. "Er, nice to meet you too, Mrs. Tonks."

Stepping back, her arm still on his shoulder, she shook her head. "No, that won't do. Call me Andromeda, please. You were so close with my favorite cousin, thus you are immediately a friend of mine," she said smiling.

"Well, you're no friend of mine," smirked Tonks.

"Nympha—"

"Mum! Please don't call me that," she spat, face reddening.

"It is the name I gave you when you first crossed the threshold into this world. Surely, you don't expect me to refer to you by our last name?"

"Well, no, but—"

"Then, it's settled. As I was saying, Nymphadora...Actually, I don't remember what I was saying," she frowned.

Seizing the chance to escape a lecture, Tonks turned to Harry. "Where's the old wolf?"

"Oh, he's upstairs. He said he would be down shortly," said Harry, finding his seat again.

"What's he doing up there? Is he trying to make himself look pretty?" she asked as she and her mother stepped forward and took seats at the table.

Harry couldn't suppress a laugh. Fortunately, the door opened at that moment and he was spared having to respond. There was a mass of red entering the room, most of which headed straight towards him.

"Harry, dear. How are you?" asked a smiling Mrs. Weasley, who was at the front of the pack.

He stood once again and accepted her warm embrace. "I'm fine Mrs. Weasley. It's good to see you."

"Wonderful to see you too, dear," she replied.

"Yes, just wonderful," spoke a mockingly sweet voice.

Harry looked past her to confirm George to be the speaker. As always, Fred was the next one to step out, and add his comment. "Oh, wonderful. Wonderful, indeed."

They both stepped closer to Harry, their arms outstretched. "You look wonderful Harry, dear," said George.

"Don't we look wonderful, too?" asked Fred, indicating himself and George with a wave of his hands.

"Seeing you today is just so..." began George.

"Wonderful," finished Fred, as they both enveloped him in their arms, and began lifting him from the ground.

"Boys, stop that," snapped their mother.

Fred retorted, "But mum, we're only trying to express to Harry how..."

"Wonderful it is to see him," finished George, as they released Harry from their grips. This allowed Harry to see two other people standing a few feet away. Ron and Hermione watched the twins' amusing display in silence, though Ron's face contained a budding smile. It was Hermione, however, who seized the open route to Harry, and flung hers arms around him.

"It's so good to see you," she exclaimed, still virtually attached to him.

"You too, 'Mione," he said. Ron had stepped forward by now, and helped to separate Hermione from their friend.

"Hermione, let go of him already," said Ron.

She blushed as she stepped back, which caused her to lower her face. "Sorry, Harry."

"No, it's okay. I'm just glad to see you two are alright," he replied.

"Ron gave him a knowing look, and then slapped his hand on to Harry's shoulder and said, "The feeling is mutual."

Sensing the potentially awkward moment on the horizon, Tonks spoke up from her seat at the table. "It's spanking good to see you all." Then with a nod to her side, she added, "Oh, by the way, this is me mum, Andromeda."

Everyone turned and greeted Tonks and Andromeda. Fred, George, and Mrs. Weasley all took seats at the table, which left Harry, Ron, and Hermione standing by themselves a few feet away. It was at this moment that Harry noticed someone standing against the door frame that he had not previously realized was there, because of all the commotion. She was staring right at him, in an attempt to burn a whole through his eyes. He was not completely surprised to find that the expression upon Ginny's face, however, was slightly glum.

Without diverting his eyes from her gaze, he whispered to Ron, "What's wrong with Ginny?"

Hermione didn't allow Ron a chance to answer, and took it upon herself to field the question. Doing her best to keep her voice down, she said, "We aren't quite sure, actually. I tried asking her earlier, but she said she was fine, and then changed the subject."

"She's been acting this way for a day or so," said Ron.

Their gaze was broken when Mrs. Weasley spoke from her spot at the table a few seconds later, and Ginny turned her attention to her mother. "Ginny, dear, come meet Mrs. Tonks."

"Please, call me Andromeda," Harry heard the woman say.

Ginny quickly glanced back his way, but then turned, walked to the table, and took a seat next to her mother. Harry watched her the entire way. Noticing that his eyes were trained on the youngest Weasley, Hermione spoke up, "Harry is there something you want to tell us?"

Unsure how to answer the question, he instead decided to simply ignore it, and turned his eyes to Hermione and asked, "So, is anyone else coming?"

"Dad is supposed to be here. He said something about having to go to a meeting at the Ministry first, though. Other than him, I don't know," replied Ron, oblivious to Hermione's previous question.

"Where's Professor Lupin?" asked Hermione.

"Right here," answered the man in question. He had just opened the door in time to catch the bushy haired girl's inquiry into his whereabouts. Hermione was startled by this, and she couldn't help but let out a small squeak. The trio turned their eyes to the man, who first looked Harry straight in the eyes for a good two seconds, which told him that everything was taken care of and his luggage and Hedwig were in place.

"Ron, Hermione, always a pleasure to see you. Everything is well, I hope?" he asked, turning his attention their way.

Their replies were short and congenial, and followed by Hermione asking Lupin how he had been. Harry tuned them all out, however. Even though he still appeared to be listening, his ear prickled moments before when he caught a sliver of the conversation taking place between Mrs. Weasley and everyone else at the table.

"So, you came anyway?" asked Andromeda. "But, why?"

"Well, the children couldn't come by themselves. Be quiet boys," Mrs. Weasley immediately added to halt the forthcoming protest of the twins.

"But, Arthur is coming too, isn't he?" asked Tonks.

"Yes, he will be here shortly. Sirius' named him in the will, I guess."

"But not you?" Andromeda asked in an outraged voice.

"Sirius and I didn't exactly see eye to eye on certain matters," she admitted.

"But, Arthur is your husband, and if he is mentioned, then you have every right to be present as well. Plus, you can represent the children," argued Andromeda.

"No, I intend to honor Sirius' final wish. Only those who are specifically named in the will should be allowed to be present. And Arthur will be in there, so the children will have a guardian present."

Stunned, Andromeda had no response but, "I see."

Harry was unable to listen any longer, though, because his name was just spoken by Ron, which meant he had to return his attention to his friends.

"Hey, Harry, are you alive?" Ron asked as he snapped his fingers in front of Harry's face.

Shaking his head in order to regain the focus of his eyes, he said, "Yeah, sorry. I was...umm...thinking about something."

Lowering her voice, Hermione spoke, "No you weren't. You were listening to Mrs. Weasley talk about how she shouldn't be here."

Harry looked at her incredulously. How did she know? Sensing this train of thought, she added, "I saw that you weren't paying attention, and then I overheard her say something of interest, so I started listening too. The look on your face a second ago gave it away. It was one of complete confusion. It reminded me of Ron."

This caused Harry to laugh. She truly was one of the cleverest people he had ever met. Ron didn't find her comment all that funny, though.

"What was that supposed to mean?" he asked, temper rising.

"Honestly Ronald, if you don't already know—"

Her comment was cut off by Lupin, who sensed an oncoming argument. Raising his voice so that everyone present could hear, he said "Why don't we all move to the drawing room. Dumbledore and Arthur are the only two not to arrive yet, and each should be here momentarily."

With that, the crowd evacuated the kitchen. A couple of minutes later they were all sitting comfortably in the drawing room, waiting and chatting civilly. Ron had already forgotten his beef with Hermione, and the two sat next to one another on one of the new couches that Lupin had conjured in order to seat the small crowd. Harry took the seat on Ron's other side and watched as everyone else took their seats. Fred, George, and Mrs. Weasley all sat on the couch adjacent to Harry, while Lupin, Tonks, Adromeda, and Ginny all sat directly across from him. At first, he found it peculiar that Ginny did not sit with her family, but quickly remembered her letter and the fact that she was growing tired of them. A twinge of guilt appeared within Harry. He hadn't even greeted her yet. She must be upset, especially if she wouldn't even take the extra spot next to him on his couch. He resolved to try to silently communicate to her. His eyes were directed right at her face, which was currently pointed towards her knees. He continued to look her way until Arthur Weasley entered the room a few moments later.

"Hello everyone. I'm sorry for being late. I had to attend another blasted meeting," he said ruefully. Then he added, a bit more formally, "Dumbledore is in the kitchen making a few last minute preparations. He said he will be up in a minute."

Everyone nodded and greeted him as he took the open seat next to his wife and began grumbling about the meeting he just left. Harry took the opportunity to continue his mission of getting Ginny to meet his gaze. Again, he looked straight at her. This time she was not looking at her knees. Her father's entrance had caused her to glance towards the door, and she had not yet returned them to their previous position. Slowly, they made their way to Harry. The surprise on her face was evident, but was soon replaced by a more questioning look.

Harry inaudibly mouthed to her, "Hello."

An ever so slight blush filled her cheeks. Oddly, this pleased Harry. In an almost perfect imitation of him, she silently returned his greeting. "Hi."

The blush in her cheeks was rising and there was a trace of a smile, which in turn delighted Harry even more. Just as he was about to invite her to sit next to him, Dumbledore entered the room, and everyone's attention was turned to him.

"Greetings," he said in a business-like voice. Mrs. Weasley immediately rose, said hello to Dumbledore and then left the room, closing the doors behind her.

Once the room was secure, Dumbledore proceeded to a chair that was positioned in the center of the group. Setting his briefcase down beside the chair, he turned to those gathered, and said, "Welcome to the reading of the Will Testament of Sirius Black. It was Mr. Black's final request that all of you be present here today, and I am glad to see that everyone who should be is in attendance." He then sat in the chair, and lifted the briefcase to his lap. He unlatched it and began to fumble through its contents. When he found what he was looking for, he closed the briefcase and lowered it back to the ground. Dumbledore now held a bundle of letters in his hand.

"The first item on the agenda is a statement prepared by Mr. Black to everyone present. I shall now read it aloud." Dumbledore sat the letters on his lap, lifted the top one from the stack, opened it, and removed the contents. He then took his wand and gently tapped the parchment that he had removed. Instantly, it unfolded itself and began to hover in the air right in front of Dumbledore. What came next was something that Harry wasn't sure he was prepared to face. He heard Sirius' voice. The final statement had been recorded by Sirius on this parchment, and now he heard the man's voice he thought he would never hear again. His throat tightened as he listened.

"Hello everyone. If you are listening to this, then I must apologize, because I have obviously made an early departure. I understand that this may be a hard time for everyone, but please know that whatever happened was meant to be. I want to thank you all for being so dear to me, and making the last couple of years worth living. I know that I haven't always expressed my gratitude, but it has always been present.

Okay, if my wishes have been carried out properly, then right now Harry, Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley, Fred and George Weasley, Ginny Weasley, Arthur Weasley, Remus Lupin, Nymphadora Tonks, and Andromeda Tonks are all present. First, I want to say that I have a letter prepared for each one of you to read privately. Once I have had my say here, Professor Dumbledore will distribute them to you. I only ask that you be sure to read them, whenever you feel ready. Also, before I continue, let me remind everyone that as the executor, Dumbledore will ensure that all transactions are carried out properly. He can answer any questions that you may have.

Now, I would like to begin with Arthur. First, let me say that I do not dislike your wife. Molly is a good woman, and she means well. The letter that I have left for you is also intended for her. There are...reasons, however, that I wish her to not be present right now. Please apologize to her for me. That being said, Arthur, let me thank you for everything you have ever done for me. It is my wish that 100,000 galleons be transferred from the Black family vault to Arthur and Molly Weasley.

Mr. Weasley appeared shocked. His eyes widened at the announcement, and he was obviously not expecting anything of the sort. He merely nodded at Dumbledore, who returned the gesture, and then began to study his shoes rather closely.

Next: Fred and George. You two kept me on my toes every time you came around. You have no idea how impressed I am with you two. I truly think that you are going to make quite a lasting impression on our world. I leave to you, my old journal from school. Inside is a list various pranks and mischievous ideas that we had while we were in school. Not all of them were used, and even some of the ones that we did try were pretty ingenious, if I may say so. Hopefully it will help to spark some ideas for your business.

Fred and George had been quiet since the start of the reading, and currently sat quietly with smug smiles upon their faces. Sirius' gift to them was more than they possibly could have asked for, and they intended to make the most of the journal.

Ron, you have proved to be one of the most loyal people that I have ever met. I want to thank you for always being at Harry's side. There is nothing as great as a true friend, and that is what you are and always will be, to him. To you, I leave 1,000 galleons.

Ginny, you are going to be a marvelous witch someday. I want you to promise to take everything in my personal letter to you to heart. I mean every single word. This might be confusing now, but it won't be for long. To you, I leave 1,000 galleons.

Hermione, much like Ron, you have always remained by Harry's side. I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for that. Never cease to strive towards what you know you can achieve: greatness. To you, I leave the entire contents of the Black Family Library in order to help you along the way.

Andromeda, my dear cousin. You have always been my favorite relative, and I want to thank you for always understanding what I was going through. To you and Nymphadora...sorry, Tonks...I leave 100,000 galleons and Kreacher. Read my letter for more information.

Moony, I don't even know where to begin. You and James are the two best friends that a man could ever have. I bequeath to you 500,000 galleons. Please, buy some new robes with this money, which you must accept, whether you like it or not.

Harry. Words cannot express how much it has meant to me to be able to fulfill my duties as your Godfather the past couple of years. You are a truly remarkable young man. I leave to you, everything else. This includes an estimated 3 million galleons, as well as the deed to Grimmauld Place. Also, all of the contents inside are yours, as well as Buckbeak. However, I ask that you consider giving him to Hagrid as a gift from me. I'm sure that would make both of them quite happy. Also, I ask that you allow Moony to continue to reside at Grimmauld Place for as long as he likes. Not that you really have a say in the matter, because unless you have turned eighteen yet, I appoint Remus as your new legal guardian. And Harry, go easy on him. He's a bit fragile.

Finally, I assume that the war is still in progress and Voldemort is still at large. If this is the case, I just want to tell everyone to be careful. You are all very able of taking care of yourselves, but things will only get worse before they get better. You must unite. If you stand together against him, you'll be stronger and more difficult for him to encounter. Stand alone, and success is beyond reach. I know that the right side will prevail in this war. Good luck."

Harry wasn't sure when he started crying, but he knew it had been somewhere near the beginning of the testament, possibly after Fred and George had been mentioned. When he heard Sirius say his final remarks, Harry's head was buried in his hands, and he was sobbing freely. He was barely able to hear the words over the sounds of his tears. All he knew was that he hurt. He wanted the pain to subside, but he couldn't. All he could do was cry. There had been arms around him since seconds after he began to cry, but he didn't even have the strength to raise his head and see who it was that held him.

A/N: I understand that this is a bit of a cliff-hanger, but I just had to end it this way. Unfortunately, I don't think that the next chapter will be posted for a couple of weeks, at the very least. I've got a lot of things on my plate right now, including final papers. My semester is coming to a close, and I just don't foresee a whole lot of time to work on this fic. If I have any free time, I will...but I doubt there'll be much time. On top of school and work, I have to take the GRE the first week of December, and get my applications ready for Graduate School (this includes writing 20-25 pages of original fiction).

All that aside, I feel that I should give a clue or two as to what lies ahead in this story. Without giving much away, let me just say that the personal letters written by Sirius may be revealed...some of them, anyway. Also, there will be an Order meeting soon. Finally, a certain blonde boy will work his way into the plot...and will prove to be an integral part.

Okay, now...PLEASE REVIEW!