Chapter 14 - The Troublesome Trio
"Emily?" Sera called, knocking on the door to Emily's room.
Emily had been locked up in there for days and none of them had seen anything of her. Sera had gotten a little concerned.
"Emily?" she tried again.
Still there was no answer.
"Allohamora" she said, pointing her wand at the lock.
The door sprung open. Sera smiled to herself. If Emily wanted privacy, she would have locked the door properly so that no one could gain access as simply as that.
"Emily?" she called.
The room was dark, but Sera could see well enough to know that it was empty. She sighed slightly as she walked into the room. The window was open and she walked over to close it. She jumped when a cat jumped in. The cat stared at her accusingly and sat down.
"You scared the living daylights out of me Emily" Sera scolded.
The cat quickly changed back into the human form of Emily and looked at her with a small grin.
"You shouldn't have been poking around in my room if you didn't want to be scared" she said, a mischievous.
Sera rolled her eyes, but grinned none the less.
"How's Harry?" Emily asked, concern filling her eyes.
Sera sighed.
"I think Megan going to see him did him some good. Molly said that he's doing much better now. He's eating again" Sera replied.
Emily smiled.
"It's started already" she said softly.
"What's started?" Sera asked, puzzled.
"Never mind" Emily said quickly, smiling to herself.
She looked up at Sera.
"So, we're only missing one trio member" Emily said quietly.
Sera frowned.
"Somehow I don't think she'll be as likely to cause trouble with us anymore. She's a teacher at Hogwarts now did you know?" Sera said quietly.
Emily waved it away.
"Minor detail" Emily said. "She's still one of the troublesome trio, and she swore an oath to it. She hasn't given either of us away has she?"
"No, but she did register" Sera pointed out.
Emily sighed.
"Well how about you and I go for a wander. I'm sure that you're as sick of being stuck in this place as I am" Emily said.
Sera looked longingly outside.
"I feel sorry for Sirius. He can't go anywhere" Sera said sadly.
Emily nodded gravely, but the grave face turned into a mischievous grin once again.
"But you still can" she said.
Sera grinned too and nodded. She carefully closed the door behind her and locked it with a spell. She turned and noticed a black cat with golden circles around its eyes. She smiled and then she too transformed. The two cats ran over to the window and jumped out. They landed on the street and began walking down it, trying to see what mischief they could get themselves into tonight.
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Sirius looked up when he heard someone cough at the door to the drawing room. Unable to find his sister or Emily, he had taken refuge there while the others were gone. He looked around to find the source of the cough and found Megan standing in the doorway. She looked apprehensive about entering and he motioned for her to come forward. She was hesitant, but soon walked in and sat down on a chair opposite him.
"Harry's coming home soon" she said softly. "I thought you might want to know"
Sirius looked at her stunned.
"But I thought he wasn't eating" Sirius said slowly.
She shrugged.
"He is now" she said, looking around the room and holding the edge of the chair nervously.
"How'd you do it?" He asked after a moment.
This seemed to get her attention. For the first time, she looked him straight in the eye. Sirius found it unnerving. He shuffled uncomfortably on the seat.
"What makes you think I had anything to do with it?" she asked evenly.
"Call it a hunch" he said. She sighed.
"I just talked to him" she said simply. "I think he just needed someone to tell him that it wasn't his fault"
"Hasn't anyone told him that?" Sirius asked, confused.
She smiled slightly.
"Not anyone who wasn't close to him" she said. "I think he just needed to hear it from someone else"
"You didn't tell him about me did you?" Sirius asked suddenly.
She shook her head, getting up as she did so and walking to the door.
"No, your secret is safe. He'll find out when he gets back" she replied, and with that, she closed the door behind her with a soft click.
Sirius stared after her. She had a habit of ending their conversations in this way.
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Mel was waiting at St Mungos with Remus. They had been waiting to see the mediwitch about Harry for the past 2 hours, but she was too busy doing her rounds to come and see them. Mel fiddled nervously with something attached to a chain on her neck. Remus noticed that it made a slight clinking noise while she toyed with it.
"What is that?" he asked curiously.
She looked at him bewildered, then noticed where he was staring and put the chain back into her robes, hiding it from view.
"It's nothing" she said, looking away.
Remus frowned, but decided that he didn't want to start a fight right now, so he let it be. Finally the mediwitch approached them. The mediwitch smiled at them.
"You're here about Mr Harry Potter are you?" she asked cheerfully.
They both nodded. She grinned broadly at him.
"Remarkable recovery" she said. "He can go home this afternoon"
Remus and Mel both let out sighs of relief.
"But you'll have to keep him rested. No excitement for a few days. Keep him quiet. He is still very weak" she said sternly.
After Remus assured her that it wouldn't be a problem, he and Mel went to go and see Harry.
Harry looked up as they walked in and smiled. Remus marvelled at how Megan had managed to cheer him up. He shook his head slightly at the thought as he sat down beside Harry.
"How are you Harry?" he asked, concerned.
Harry smiled again.
"I'm feeling a lot better now" he said.
Remus nodded.
"Did the mediwitch tell you the news?" Remus asked.
Harry looked at him confused.
"You're coming back with us this afternoon" Mel said happily.
Harry grinned. He couldn't wait to get out of there. The hospital had become quite boring and he longed to get out.
"Well, I'll go back and get you a fresh change of clothes so that you don't have to stay in those pyjamas" Remus said, getting up.
Mel sat down beside Harry and picked up a magazine. Harry was used to people sitting by him. He had someone from the order sitting with him 24 hours a day, just in case something happened.
"Is Megan still at the hideout?" Harry asked quietly.
Mel looked up from the magazine and smiled at him.
"Yes, that's right. You've taken quite a shine to her haven't you?" she asked playfully.
Harry blushed slightly.
"Yes, she's still there. She'll be there until Hogwarts starts again" Mel said, looking down at the magazine in front of her.
Harry sighed and leaned back into the pillows. He couldn't wait to go back to Grimmauld Place.
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"You do realise what you're risking by showing yourself to him don't you" Dumbledore asked, peering at Sirius over the top of his half moon spectacles.
Sirius nodded.
"He's sick. He needs me. I am his godfather after all." Sirius replied simply.
Dumbledore nodded.
"I hope that everything will work out for the best" Dumbledore said softly.
There was a noise from the other room and Sirius quickly stood up. His ran his hands nervously along his robes to smooth out any wrinkles as he heard the footsteps approaching. Remus entered first. Harry followed him closely. Sirius saw Harry smiling widely, but the smile soon faded as his eyes landed on Sirius. Harry went pale and stared, wide eyed, at his godfather.
"Hello Harry" Sirius said calmly.
Harry let out a slow, rattling breath. He looked towards Remus, as if wanting confirmation that this was real. That Sirius was really standing there, alive and well, right in front of him.
Remus gave a small nod of reassurance and Harry looked back at Sirius. Their eyes met. Sirius saw the emotions passing behind Harry's eyes. He made a step towards Harry, but Harry beat him to it. Sirius found Harry hugging him tightly and let out a laugh of relief. Harry was alright again. He felt the heavy burden that he had been carrying since he had realised Harry was ill, fall off him. He had never felt so light and carefree.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Harry scolded Remus as soon as they had pulled apart.
Remus was saved a response by Sirius.
"When I got here you were already sick" Sirius said quietly. "We decided not to tell you until you were well for a few reasons, the main one being that you were quite ill and we didn't know how you would take the news. You gave us all quite a fright you know"
Sirius raised a hand and ruffled Harry's hair. Harry laughed, but quickly stopped and stared at Sirius with a sad expression.
"Why did you keep me waiting? I called out to you, and you never answered" Harry said, his eyes filling with tears as he remembered the incident from the previous year.
Remus also looked at Sirius curiously, for Sirius had not yet told anyone about how he had mysteriously survived when no one else had come back alive. Sirius sighed deeply, knowing that he would now have to tell them everything. He motioned for them both to sit at the table. He poured himself some butterbeer from a flagon on the table. He downed the glass in one go and then stared at the two people opposite him, who were both fixing him with curious stares. He sighed again, put down the glass, and took a deep breath.
Sirius launched straight into an explanation of the room, of the voices that he'd heard, finding out that it was Lily, James and Mrs Potter talking to him. He explained about the difficulties of getting out. He kept going until he reached the part about realising that the way out was over 5 meters above him. Harry and Remus sat enthralled up to this point. Sirius stopped and took another glass of butterbeer. Harry looked at him impatiently.
"Well how did you get to the door then?" Harry asked impatiently.
Sirius looked down at him with concern.
"I'm not sure if I should tell you that Harry" Sirius said softly.
Harry's eyebrows furrowed.
"Why not?" He demanded.
Sirius sighed.
"Because it means that I would have to tell you something about James that would give you a bad impression of him. James was a good man. The best. I don't want to tell you something that will make you lose respect for him" Sirius explained.
Harry's eyes narrowed.
"I want to know" he said.
Sirius looked up at Remus. A look of comprehension dawned over his face. Harry noticed this.
"What? What is that you're not telling me?" he asked, his voice raised slightly.
Remus looked nervously from Harry to Sirius. Sirius put a hand through his hair nervously.
"He's been kept in the dark enough, Sirius. Tell him" came a voice from the corner. Harry jumped in surprise.
He had not seen Dumbledore standing in the corner of the room. Sirius nodded his head gravely. He thought for a moment about how to word what he was going to say.
"When your father and I were at Hogwarts, we needed to find a spell that could make a person as light as a feather. We managed to develop it by the end of our first year" Sirius said cautiously looking at Harry as he spoke.
Harry knew that Sirius was deliberately keeping things out of the story, but let him continue on none the less.
"The spell was quite advanced. To this day, I still don't know how we pulled it off. But then again, Lily helped us a lot and she was possibly the smartest witch I've ever met" Sirius said.
Harry's eyes widened.
"But I thought mum and dad didn't get along at Hogwarts" he blurted out.
Sirius chuckled.
"No, I'd say it was because of that spell actually" he said.
Harry looked at him curiously and Sirius stopped laughing immediately and looked at Harry nervously again.
"Anyway" he continued before Harry could ask more questions. "The spell was not only good for making a person as light as a feather, we found that it was good to help you to jump higher than you would normally be able to. Basically, I cast the spell on myself when I heard the door being opened, changed back into my dog form and lept out the door"
Harry looked at him stunned.
"And that's all?" he asked, clearly thinking that it should have been much more complicated.
"Basically" Sirius said.
Harry thought for a few moments, taking in all the information.
"What did you need the spell for?" Harry asked.
Sirius bit his lip and looked nervously at Remus again.
"I think we should leave it there for today Harry" Remus said softly. "You're looking quite pale again and we don't want to have you back in St Mungos when there's only 2 weeks until school starts again"
Harry gave him a murderous glare, but nodded and let himself be led upstairs by Remus. Sirius put his head in his hands, letting out a sigh of relief.
"Harry isn't as judgemental as you might think Sirius" Dumbledore said softly. "If you explain to him how his father was after school too, then I don't think Harry will think badly of James"
Sirius nodded slightly, his head still in his hands. Dumbledore bid him farewell and left. Sirius sat there for a moment, before going up to check on Harry.
"Emily?" Sera called, knocking on the door to Emily's room.
Emily had been locked up in there for days and none of them had seen anything of her. Sera had gotten a little concerned.
"Emily?" she tried again.
Still there was no answer.
"Allohamora" she said, pointing her wand at the lock.
The door sprung open. Sera smiled to herself. If Emily wanted privacy, she would have locked the door properly so that no one could gain access as simply as that.
"Emily?" she called.
The room was dark, but Sera could see well enough to know that it was empty. She sighed slightly as she walked into the room. The window was open and she walked over to close it. She jumped when a cat jumped in. The cat stared at her accusingly and sat down.
"You scared the living daylights out of me Emily" Sera scolded.
The cat quickly changed back into the human form of Emily and looked at her with a small grin.
"You shouldn't have been poking around in my room if you didn't want to be scared" she said, a mischievous.
Sera rolled her eyes, but grinned none the less.
"How's Harry?" Emily asked, concern filling her eyes.
Sera sighed.
"I think Megan going to see him did him some good. Molly said that he's doing much better now. He's eating again" Sera replied.
Emily smiled.
"It's started already" she said softly.
"What's started?" Sera asked, puzzled.
"Never mind" Emily said quickly, smiling to herself.
She looked up at Sera.
"So, we're only missing one trio member" Emily said quietly.
Sera frowned.
"Somehow I don't think she'll be as likely to cause trouble with us anymore. She's a teacher at Hogwarts now did you know?" Sera said quietly.
Emily waved it away.
"Minor detail" Emily said. "She's still one of the troublesome trio, and she swore an oath to it. She hasn't given either of us away has she?"
"No, but she did register" Sera pointed out.
Emily sighed.
"Well how about you and I go for a wander. I'm sure that you're as sick of being stuck in this place as I am" Emily said.
Sera looked longingly outside.
"I feel sorry for Sirius. He can't go anywhere" Sera said sadly.
Emily nodded gravely, but the grave face turned into a mischievous grin once again.
"But you still can" she said.
Sera grinned too and nodded. She carefully closed the door behind her and locked it with a spell. She turned and noticed a black cat with golden circles around its eyes. She smiled and then she too transformed. The two cats ran over to the window and jumped out. They landed on the street and began walking down it, trying to see what mischief they could get themselves into tonight.
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Sirius looked up when he heard someone cough at the door to the drawing room. Unable to find his sister or Emily, he had taken refuge there while the others were gone. He looked around to find the source of the cough and found Megan standing in the doorway. She looked apprehensive about entering and he motioned for her to come forward. She was hesitant, but soon walked in and sat down on a chair opposite him.
"Harry's coming home soon" she said softly. "I thought you might want to know"
Sirius looked at her stunned.
"But I thought he wasn't eating" Sirius said slowly.
She shrugged.
"He is now" she said, looking around the room and holding the edge of the chair nervously.
"How'd you do it?" He asked after a moment.
This seemed to get her attention. For the first time, she looked him straight in the eye. Sirius found it unnerving. He shuffled uncomfortably on the seat.
"What makes you think I had anything to do with it?" she asked evenly.
"Call it a hunch" he said. She sighed.
"I just talked to him" she said simply. "I think he just needed someone to tell him that it wasn't his fault"
"Hasn't anyone told him that?" Sirius asked, confused.
She smiled slightly.
"Not anyone who wasn't close to him" she said. "I think he just needed to hear it from someone else"
"You didn't tell him about me did you?" Sirius asked suddenly.
She shook her head, getting up as she did so and walking to the door.
"No, your secret is safe. He'll find out when he gets back" she replied, and with that, she closed the door behind her with a soft click.
Sirius stared after her. She had a habit of ending their conversations in this way.
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Mel was waiting at St Mungos with Remus. They had been waiting to see the mediwitch about Harry for the past 2 hours, but she was too busy doing her rounds to come and see them. Mel fiddled nervously with something attached to a chain on her neck. Remus noticed that it made a slight clinking noise while she toyed with it.
"What is that?" he asked curiously.
She looked at him bewildered, then noticed where he was staring and put the chain back into her robes, hiding it from view.
"It's nothing" she said, looking away.
Remus frowned, but decided that he didn't want to start a fight right now, so he let it be. Finally the mediwitch approached them. The mediwitch smiled at them.
"You're here about Mr Harry Potter are you?" she asked cheerfully.
They both nodded. She grinned broadly at him.
"Remarkable recovery" she said. "He can go home this afternoon"
Remus and Mel both let out sighs of relief.
"But you'll have to keep him rested. No excitement for a few days. Keep him quiet. He is still very weak" she said sternly.
After Remus assured her that it wouldn't be a problem, he and Mel went to go and see Harry.
Harry looked up as they walked in and smiled. Remus marvelled at how Megan had managed to cheer him up. He shook his head slightly at the thought as he sat down beside Harry.
"How are you Harry?" he asked, concerned.
Harry smiled again.
"I'm feeling a lot better now" he said.
Remus nodded.
"Did the mediwitch tell you the news?" Remus asked.
Harry looked at him confused.
"You're coming back with us this afternoon" Mel said happily.
Harry grinned. He couldn't wait to get out of there. The hospital had become quite boring and he longed to get out.
"Well, I'll go back and get you a fresh change of clothes so that you don't have to stay in those pyjamas" Remus said, getting up.
Mel sat down beside Harry and picked up a magazine. Harry was used to people sitting by him. He had someone from the order sitting with him 24 hours a day, just in case something happened.
"Is Megan still at the hideout?" Harry asked quietly.
Mel looked up from the magazine and smiled at him.
"Yes, that's right. You've taken quite a shine to her haven't you?" she asked playfully.
Harry blushed slightly.
"Yes, she's still there. She'll be there until Hogwarts starts again" Mel said, looking down at the magazine in front of her.
Harry sighed and leaned back into the pillows. He couldn't wait to go back to Grimmauld Place.
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"You do realise what you're risking by showing yourself to him don't you" Dumbledore asked, peering at Sirius over the top of his half moon spectacles.
Sirius nodded.
"He's sick. He needs me. I am his godfather after all." Sirius replied simply.
Dumbledore nodded.
"I hope that everything will work out for the best" Dumbledore said softly.
There was a noise from the other room and Sirius quickly stood up. His ran his hands nervously along his robes to smooth out any wrinkles as he heard the footsteps approaching. Remus entered first. Harry followed him closely. Sirius saw Harry smiling widely, but the smile soon faded as his eyes landed on Sirius. Harry went pale and stared, wide eyed, at his godfather.
"Hello Harry" Sirius said calmly.
Harry let out a slow, rattling breath. He looked towards Remus, as if wanting confirmation that this was real. That Sirius was really standing there, alive and well, right in front of him.
Remus gave a small nod of reassurance and Harry looked back at Sirius. Their eyes met. Sirius saw the emotions passing behind Harry's eyes. He made a step towards Harry, but Harry beat him to it. Sirius found Harry hugging him tightly and let out a laugh of relief. Harry was alright again. He felt the heavy burden that he had been carrying since he had realised Harry was ill, fall off him. He had never felt so light and carefree.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Harry scolded Remus as soon as they had pulled apart.
Remus was saved a response by Sirius.
"When I got here you were already sick" Sirius said quietly. "We decided not to tell you until you were well for a few reasons, the main one being that you were quite ill and we didn't know how you would take the news. You gave us all quite a fright you know"
Sirius raised a hand and ruffled Harry's hair. Harry laughed, but quickly stopped and stared at Sirius with a sad expression.
"Why did you keep me waiting? I called out to you, and you never answered" Harry said, his eyes filling with tears as he remembered the incident from the previous year.
Remus also looked at Sirius curiously, for Sirius had not yet told anyone about how he had mysteriously survived when no one else had come back alive. Sirius sighed deeply, knowing that he would now have to tell them everything. He motioned for them both to sit at the table. He poured himself some butterbeer from a flagon on the table. He downed the glass in one go and then stared at the two people opposite him, who were both fixing him with curious stares. He sighed again, put down the glass, and took a deep breath.
Sirius launched straight into an explanation of the room, of the voices that he'd heard, finding out that it was Lily, James and Mrs Potter talking to him. He explained about the difficulties of getting out. He kept going until he reached the part about realising that the way out was over 5 meters above him. Harry and Remus sat enthralled up to this point. Sirius stopped and took another glass of butterbeer. Harry looked at him impatiently.
"Well how did you get to the door then?" Harry asked impatiently.
Sirius looked down at him with concern.
"I'm not sure if I should tell you that Harry" Sirius said softly.
Harry's eyebrows furrowed.
"Why not?" He demanded.
Sirius sighed.
"Because it means that I would have to tell you something about James that would give you a bad impression of him. James was a good man. The best. I don't want to tell you something that will make you lose respect for him" Sirius explained.
Harry's eyes narrowed.
"I want to know" he said.
Sirius looked up at Remus. A look of comprehension dawned over his face. Harry noticed this.
"What? What is that you're not telling me?" he asked, his voice raised slightly.
Remus looked nervously from Harry to Sirius. Sirius put a hand through his hair nervously.
"He's been kept in the dark enough, Sirius. Tell him" came a voice from the corner. Harry jumped in surprise.
He had not seen Dumbledore standing in the corner of the room. Sirius nodded his head gravely. He thought for a moment about how to word what he was going to say.
"When your father and I were at Hogwarts, we needed to find a spell that could make a person as light as a feather. We managed to develop it by the end of our first year" Sirius said cautiously looking at Harry as he spoke.
Harry knew that Sirius was deliberately keeping things out of the story, but let him continue on none the less.
"The spell was quite advanced. To this day, I still don't know how we pulled it off. But then again, Lily helped us a lot and she was possibly the smartest witch I've ever met" Sirius said.
Harry's eyes widened.
"But I thought mum and dad didn't get along at Hogwarts" he blurted out.
Sirius chuckled.
"No, I'd say it was because of that spell actually" he said.
Harry looked at him curiously and Sirius stopped laughing immediately and looked at Harry nervously again.
"Anyway" he continued before Harry could ask more questions. "The spell was not only good for making a person as light as a feather, we found that it was good to help you to jump higher than you would normally be able to. Basically, I cast the spell on myself when I heard the door being opened, changed back into my dog form and lept out the door"
Harry looked at him stunned.
"And that's all?" he asked, clearly thinking that it should have been much more complicated.
"Basically" Sirius said.
Harry thought for a few moments, taking in all the information.
"What did you need the spell for?" Harry asked.
Sirius bit his lip and looked nervously at Remus again.
"I think we should leave it there for today Harry" Remus said softly. "You're looking quite pale again and we don't want to have you back in St Mungos when there's only 2 weeks until school starts again"
Harry gave him a murderous glare, but nodded and let himself be led upstairs by Remus. Sirius put his head in his hands, letting out a sigh of relief.
"Harry isn't as judgemental as you might think Sirius" Dumbledore said softly. "If you explain to him how his father was after school too, then I don't think Harry will think badly of James"
Sirius nodded slightly, his head still in his hands. Dumbledore bid him farewell and left. Sirius sat there for a moment, before going up to check on Harry.
