Black Letters

By Neurotica

Two: Unexpected Visitors

Two nights after the note in the park, Harry was once again wide awake. His alarm clock said it was 2:30a.m. Hedwig was out hunting, leaving Harry in his room to stare into the neighborhood again. His vision was blurry and his eyelids were heavy, but Harry wouldn't sleep. Last night, he'd once again been taken to the Department of Mysteries in his dreams. Once again, he'd seen Sirius fall behind the veil. Once again, he had awoken with his scar prickling. It was a routine Harry was becoming quite familiar with, and he was quickly tiring of it.

In the distance, he could see a black shape flying towards him. Hedwig would bringing him back a dead frog or, even better, a dead rat to try, in her own way, to cheer Harry.

But it wasn't Harry's faithful snowy owl; it was the same small brown owl from the park. Instinct told him to slam the window shut. Instinct told him to take out his wand and curse the animal. But Harry stood there and waited for the owl to land on the window sill, once again baring a folded piece of parchment.

It had the same untidy scrawl, this time reading:

'You should be in bed.'

Harry immediately shooed the animal away and finally closed his window. Hedwig would let him know when she returned. Harry watched the animal fly over the houses in the direction of the park, and dive down to the trees.

Maybe it was Tonks, or Dung, sending him messages. But why wouldn't they come out at the park the other day? Tomorrow would be Tuesday, the day me would meet Tonks for their weekly conversation in the park. He would ask her then.


"Boy! Where are you going?" Vernon Dursley roared as Harry tried to duck out of the house undetected after dinner.

Harry's shoulders sagged and he rolled his eyes. "I'm going to meet Tonks in the park. If I'm late, she'll come looking for me," he said, turning to face his uncle.

The vein in Vernon's head was throbbing visibly, and Harry knew from experience that it was from mentioning the young witch's name in his presence. Without another word, Vernon huffed and waddled into the sitting room with Petunia and Dudley.

Harry left the house and hurried down the street before Vernon or Petunia tried to call him back. Turning the corner into the park, Harry laid eyes, not on Tonks' usual get-up (an old lady with stringy gray hair), but a new one. Harry raised an eyebrow as he thought about the good job she'd done. The man in his mid-thirties had pre-mature gray hair mixed into his normal sandy color. The Muggle clothes on the man were worn and faded, but in overall good shape.

Harry sat next to the Metamorphagus without looking at her. "Nice one, Tonks," he said.

He had expected the usual "Wotcher, Harry" but it never came. Harry remained staring out into the park, and thus didn't see Tonks' lips twitch or her eyebrow raise slightly. Nor did he see her amber colored eyes twinkling. "I'm not Tonks, Harry. But I will be having a chat with her if she's impersonating members of the Order," said a quiet, hoarse male voice.

Harry jumped visibly and turned to see his former professor, Remus Lupin, watching him amusedly. "Professor Lupin!" Harry said, surprised.

Lupin chuckled. "Hello, Harry."

"I wasn't expecting you here. Sorry," Harry said, feeling embarrassed.

"Not a problem, Harry. Tonks asked me to switch duty with her tonight. She's got a very heavy workload at the Ministry these days," Lupin explained.

"Ah," Harry said. Duty, is it? He thought.

"She's terribly sorry," Lupin continued. "She does enjoy your weekly chats."

Harry nodded mutely.

The two sat in silence for a few moments before Lupin spoke again. "How are you, Harry?" he asked quietly.

Harry turned to face him. His face was more exhausted than usual. "Fine," Harry lied. Lupin had his own issues to deal with; he didn't need to add 'worry about Harry' to the list.

Lupin wasn't convinced – not even close. But he didn't press the subject. "We should be able to get you out of here fairly soon. If you'd like, of course."

Harry smiled slightly. "Yeah? To the Burrow?"

The smile that Lupin had on his face previously began to fade, and Harry knew what that implied. One of the last places he wanted to see right now was Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place. It was second only to Number Four.

"Oh," he said flatly.

Lupin seemed to know exactly Harry was thinking. "Ron and Hermione will be there," he said. Harry nodded. "Harry, I know how you feel about returning there, but I'm afraid it's one of the last safe places, anymore."

"So what's going on with Voldemort?" Harry asked, changing the subject as quickly as possible.

Lupin watched him for a moment, but told Harry things that had been going on with the wizarding world. No deaths at Voldemort's wand had occurred, but it was only a matter of time.

When the sun had gone down, Harry announced that he needed to return home. Lupin silently walked him to the front door of Number Four. Before Harry could open the door, however, the older wizard gently grabbed his elbow.

"Take care of yourself, Harry. We'll talk again soon. And owl if you need anything," Lupin said quietly.

Harry nodded his thanks and attempted a small smile before entering the house, leaving Lupin to stare after him.


He woke suddenly as he saw it happen again. He didn't know how much longer he could handle it. He moved the hair off his sweaty forehead, and rubbed his prickling scar. He got out of bed, leaned on the window sill, and stared out into the night.

How much longer would he have to endure watching his godfather die? He remembered back to last year at this time when he would dream about the cemetery, and Cedric. He hadn't known Cedric as well as Sirius, but both deaths had been his fault. Harry convinced Cedric to take the cup with him; he'd led his friends into the Ministry, causing Sirius to have to come and rescue him.

Harry regretted not knowing Sirius better, not getting to spend more time with him, not getting to say goodbye. His eyes began to sting, and he moved them away from the sky to the sidewalk in front of the house. Instead of it being empty like any other night, there was a large black animal staring back at him. Harry couldn't make out what kind of animal it was, but the longer he stared, the wider his eyes grew.

It couldn't be…

Harry rubbed his eyes roughly with his hands and looked back to the sidewalk – the empty sidewalk. Harry felt his heart sink, and felt like a complete dolt for thinking he saw what he did. He'd wanted to see Sirius so badly, he was imagining things now.

Wonderful, he thought dully. He went back to his bed and lay down again. He really needed a good night's sleep…