Best Served Cold
by LNLisa
Chapter 5
Harry woke up feeling groggy and grumpy. His scar hurt, and his head ached.
He tried to remember if he'd had any nightmares, but he couldn't. Does that mean the Occlumency worked? Harry wondered. With a shrug he pulled himself up in bed. The light coming in through the window over Neville's bed was even dimmer than usual, and Harry noticed the sound of rain outside.
Monday weather, he thought.
He pulled on his glasses and automatically reached for the Occlumency text. Then, remembering Saturday's experience, when Mrs. Weasley had pulled them all into the kitchen and reprimanded them. He decided to skip the reading. He showered and changed. He trudged down the stairs for breakfast.
Mrs. Weasley was standing in her usual place between the stove, the sink and the table preparing breakfast. Remus sat at the end of the table a slipper dangling from his foot below his crossed leg, and in the middle of the table was Luna who seemed very busy sorting the food on her plate.
"Good morning, Luna," said Harry sinking into the chair next to Remus.
"Good morning, Harry," said Luna with a smile before returning to her food manipulations. Finally she speared a slice of peach with her fork and began nibbling at it.
"Are you nervous, Luna?" asked Harry.
"About what?" asked Luna pausing while she carefully began cutting the crust off of a slice of toast. Once she was finished with that, she began eating the crust. She left the center of the toast alone.
"About the hearing today," said Harry amazed.
"Oh no, I'm looking forward to it. I have so much to tell the Ministry about," she told him. She reached into her pocket and pulled out an especially large scroll. As she began unrolling it Harry could see that several scrolls had been taped together end to end so that the scroll was now about forty feet long.
"I've made a few notes, just reminders really so I don't forget anything. First, I intend to complain about Fudge's murderous treatment of those poor Goblins, next there's Rapalho's problem."
"Who?" asked Harry thinking maybe he was nervous for Luna and that's why none of the food looked especially appetizing.
"Rapalho, he's half-wizard and half-centaur. The centaurs have ostracized him, so he can't live with them. However the Ministry insists his third leg is the result of a charm accident, and he just needs to go to St. Mungos to have it fixed. They've completely ignored the fact that he can whinny and has hooves."
"Third leg," repeated Harry incredulously.
"Yes, of course centaurs have four legs and wizards have two, so of course Rapalho only has three legs."
Harry nodded mutely picking at a sausage.
Luna continued on. "Then I want to petition for the disclosure of the Clean-Hair Forever Potion which the Ministry has been suppressing for years in order to protect the shampoo and hair potion industry…"
As Luna droned on, Harry noticed that Remus had lowered his newspaper. He was smiling as he listened to Luna read her list to them item by item. Mrs. Weasley had "harrumphed" at the first few items, but now she stood still staring at Luna in shock.
"Next, the public needs to know, E. Hasna Gottaklu found the remains of a mysterious ship he believes is linked to the lost race of Seraphonum, but the Ministry has doggedly refused to support his expedition. Where is the tax money the Ministry collects going if there isn't enough money to support important scientific work like Mr. GottaKlu's?
"Also, Daddy has told the Ministry many times now, if they'd just feed the Dementors chocolate, the Dementors would dissolve!" Luna shook her head in disgust. Harry quickly looked at Remus, but the older man shook his head regretfully. Luna was almost at the bottom of her scroll now.
"Then there are the Kentish Nibelung who have been ignored for centuries!" Luna finished.
"I didn't realize that there were any Nibelung living in Kent," commented Remus once she was finished.
"There aren't," said Luna. "They moved to Wales about a thousand years ago."
Remus nodded wisely.
Moody came down the stairs then, "Time to be off, missy! Your father will be waiting for you." Luna stood gracefully and followed him out after waving goodbye to Harry and Remus.
Once they were gone, Harry asked Remus, "How come Mr. Lovegood didn't come this morning?"
"Professor Dumbledore thought it would be better if he met Luna at the Ministry," Remus answered smiling. "I believe it was agreed that Boyden Lovegood already knew far too many of the Wizarding World's most dangerous secrets. There was no point in making him even more of a target." Harry gave Remus an incredulous look before he noticed that Remus' lips were twitching.
Harry nodded with a small smile before turning his attention to his breakfast.
After breakfast, Harry decided to take a shift in front of Mrs. Black. For the remainder of breakfast, he hadn't felt like talking and had barely managed to say "Good Morning" when each of the other residents of Number 12 Grimmauld Place joined them in the kitchen. When he told Ron what he was planning to do, he noticed that Remus' searching look, but he ignored it.
Ron decided to join him, and they both went up to the Drawing room to get the chessboard.
"Harry," said Hermione just as Ron was placing the last pawn into a bag. Harry cinched up the bag and gathered up the board under his arm.
"Are you talking to us again then?" Ron asked churlishly after turning around to look at her. Hermione gave him a dirty look.
"There's no need to be rude. If anything you should be apologizing to the three of us girls," Hermione told him crossly.
"What for?" asked Ron.
"For talking about me and Ginny that way. I can't even imagine what you must have said about Luna! Lucky for you Neville had the sense to leave that part out?"
"It wasn't anything. All of it was a joke," said Harry. Ron nodded in agreement.
"Yes, well, you wouldn't like it if some girls started talking about you like that, would you Harry?" Hermione asked.
"What, you mean they don't?" retorted Harry.
"Yes, they do," said Hermione in a quieter tone of voice, "but I at least have the decency to stay out of it!"
Harry looked down at his feet feeling a huge lump in his throat. Ron didn't say anything either.
"This isn't what I came in here to talk to you about. I just…there's something that I've been wanting to ask you," she told them.
"Yeah?" Harry asked.
"I've been trying to understand this…I mean, I've listened to what you both have said, and I've been thinking about it, but I don't really get why you're doing this thing with Mrs. Black. Why do you want to spend all of your time on that painting?"
"Hermione, we've already explained this to you," said Harry annoyed again. His headache was getting worse, and he had to fight not to yawn.
"Explain it again, then, because I don't understand! All the years that I've known you, Harry, you have never purposely tried to be mean to anyone or anything, but now? You're both choosing to spend your free time screaming at some mad woman. I don't get it!"
"And what good has being nice ever done me?" asked Harry suddenly furious. "Did keeping that rat alive help my godfather or Cedric?
"You always say that I should tell people how I feel, Hermione," Harry reminded her. "But if I tell you that I'm angry, you tell me I should control it. Well, I can't control it! I always feel angry and that feeling doesn't ever seem to go away! Do you understand now? I decided to give my anger a try for once… since being nice has never gotten me anywhere! And maybe the only way to fight wickedness is with wickedness. How does everyone expect me to kill Voldemort? I'll tell you how, they expect me to murder him! So maybe the only way to fight that witch is to beat her at her own game.
"In any case, none of us will be happy here until that painting is off the wall, and that's why we're trying to get her down! If you don't like it, then don't watch!" Harry grabbed his things, and pushed past Hermione and out the door.
"But Harry," called Hermione from behind him, "how do you keep from becoming the thing you are fighting?"
Harry looked back at her, "I don't know, maybe you don't."
Harry stomped down the stairs. He was surprised to find Ron right behind him once he reached the bottom. Without saying anything to each other, they pulled chairs out of the dining room.
Mrs. Black was pacing back and forth in her painting watching them but saying nothing.
"Harry," asked Ron, "did anyone take that silencing charm off of her yesterday?"
Harry slammed his chair down against the wall, before turning around to look at the painting. "I don't kn..."
"DISRESPECTFUL, UNNATURAL, FILTHY HALF-BLOOD!" snarled Mrs. Black.
"Unnatural?" asked Harry feeling the blood rushing in his ears. He laughed in her face. "Unnatural? If anyone here is unnatural it's you!"
"VERMIN!" She screamed. "HOW DARE YOU INSULT ME! BLACK IS THE NOBLEST NAME IN ALL OF WIZARDING HISTORY! YOU AND YOUR MUDBLOOD LOVING FRIEND AREN'T GOOD ENOUGH TO KISS MY FEET!"
"Thank goodness for that," muttered Ron.
"Don't be too thankful yet!" said Harry spitefully. "Don't forget, Madella wasn't born a Black. You know maybe we should do a little research into her family history. What do you think, Ron, is she a half-muggle too, like Voldemort?"
"IMPUDENT, REVOLTING, LITTLE BRATS!" Screamed Mrs. Black. "I AM A BLACK! I WAS BORN TO BE A BLACK! IT'S ALWAYS BEEN MY DESTINY TO RULE THIS FAMILY!"
"What?" asked Harry with relish. "Did you say it's always been your destiny to RUIN this family? You've done a GREAT JOB!" Hermione joined them at the bottom of the stairs. Harry noticed that her cheeks were wet, and her eyes looked bloodshot. He was annoyed at the sudden guilt he felt.
Then Harry heard a murmuring around him. The paintings were whispering to each other. He glanced briefly at the painting of the Elizabethan Knight and saw that Phineas Nigellus was again sharing the canvas with Sirius' namesake. Both were watching Mrs. Black intently.
"BECAUSE OF ME THIS FAMILY HAS BEEN FEARED! BEFORE I CAME EVERYONE TOOK THE BLACK FAMILY FOR GRANTED! THEY WERE NOTHING BUT A BUNCH OF LACKEYS FOR ALL THE OTHER PURE-BLOOD FAMILIES! BUT I MADE THEM NOTICE! I DIDN'T LET THEM FORGET ABOUT THE BLACKS! WE'RE PURE BLOODS ALL THE WAY UP THE LINE WITHOUT ANY TAINTED BLOOD. NO SCUM IS IN OUR BLOOD! BECAUSE OF ME THIS FAMILY FINALLY GOT SOME RESPECT! RESPECT!"
"Madame! You are quite wrong!" shouted the Nigellus, but Harry ignored him.
"Because of YOU?" yelled Harry. "BECAUSE OF YOU THIS FAMILY IS DEAD! The last Black is DEAD because of YOU and your little HENCHMAN! You are responsible for the murder of your own son!"
"SIRIUS WAS A BLOOD TRAITOR! HE HAD TO BE DESTROYED! HE DESERVED TO DIE, AND I WOULD HAVE KILLED HIM MYSELF IF I HAD BEEN ALIVE! I WOULD HAVE STABBED HIM WITH THIS DAGGER!
Mrs. Black's voice grew quiet as if she were telling them a secret, "Every morning I imagine this pillow is my DISEASED AND WRETCHED SON, and I STAB HIM! STAB HIM RIGHT THROUGH HIS BLEEDING HEART! I would have POISONED HIM AND THEN STABBED HIM UNTIL HE WAS DEAD, IF I WERE STILL ALIVE!"
She waved her dagger at Harry, "AND I WOULD DO THE SAME TO YOU, FILTH!"
She stared at him. Her body tensed with one foot forward as though ready to spring out of her painting and grab Harry by the throat as though he were her dead son. Seeing her rage, Harry suddenly found his calm.
"But you're not," Harry reminded her sitting calmly in the chair next to Ron. Ron and Hermione had been staring at the painting in shock and horror, but at Harry's words they turned as one to look at him, amazed by his calmness.
"You're dead," continued Harry. "You can't do anything to stop anyone--except yell, and a quick silencing charm is all it takes to put an end to that."
"Tsk, tsk, tsk," said Ginny startling Harry. He turned to see her and most of the rest of the household standing slightly behind him in the hallway near the kitchen stairs. Ginny walked further into the hallway until she was standing beside Harry's chair.
"Once head of a family extending back hundreds of generations, but look at her now. She's just one more poorly drawn portrait, and she's already showing signs of aging," Ginny shook her head regretfully. She sat on the arm of Harry's chair, and turned to him as though he were the only one there. "Even her insults are useless. Pathetic."
Mrs. Black screamed.
"You know," said Harry loudly enough to be heard. "Let's leave her there. It's the perfect punishment. She can hang up there a millennium for all that I care, watching as life goes on without her. She'll be powerless to do anything!"
"I agree," said Ginny. "I mean can you believe how helpless and useless she is? She can't even get herself off that wall."
"YOU'RE WRONG, FILTH! I COULD COME DOWN OFF THIS WALL WHENEVER I WANTED!"
"Don't believe her, Harry," said Hermione suddenly. "She's a lying, grasping woman who'll say anything to get her own way."
"DON'T SPEAK TO ME, MUDBLOOD! YOU KNOW NOTHING! I ALONE CAN CONTROL MY DESTINY!"
"She's lying, Harry," said Ron. "Everybody knows that paintings can't do any magic. She's all talk."
"YOU, IGNORANT BRAT! I WAS THE GREATEST CHARMIST THAT EVER LIVED, ME, MADELLA BLACK, AND I CAN DO WHATEVER I WANT!"
"No," said Hermione, "Ron's right. Objects, even animate objects, cannot do any kind of magic. She's lying."
"YOU THINK YOU'RE SO CLEVER, FILTH! YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING! I CAN GET OFF THIS WALL WHENEVER I WANT TO AND ALL I HAVE TO DO IS SAY THE WORDS."
"I've never heard of any charm that works like that," Remus told them walking forward until he was standing next to Hermione. " I think she's making it up."
"I CREATED THIS CHARM, IDIOT BEAST! THAT'S WHY YOU'VE NEVER HEARD OF IT, FOOLS!" screamed Mrs. Black furiously.
"Created? Maybe in your imagination," said Harry with a scornful laugh. "We don't believe you."
"IT'S TRUE! ALL I HAVE TO DO IS SAY THE WORDS, ECARTEE VOLUNTIUS!"
Suddenly they all heard a loud sucking noise.
The painting was pulled into the wall almost to the edge of the frame. It paused there for a moment, and Mrs. Black looked all around her in horror. Then with a pfuth sound the painting was spat off the wall.
Mrs. Black looked at them all fearfully and then began screaming. Harry caught Ron's eye and motioned to the painting. Ron nodded smiling in return.
Together they lifted the painting and turned it sideways. Ron and Harry each held on to one side of the painting with a single hand as they reached forward and kicked at the top of the frame until it broke in the center. They quickly flipped the painting and broke the other side of the frame. Then each grabbed one end of the painting. They pulled at it as hard as they could until the canvas tore in the center. Mrs. Black screamed curses at them from both sides of her painting. Remus motioned them to stop at this point.
"Allow me," they barely heard him say. Harry nodded, and he and Ron put the two halves of the painting on the floor, one on top of the other.
They couldn't hear the spells Remus performed because of Mrs. Black's screams, but they saw him pointing his wand first at the floor, then at the ceiling, and finally at the painting itself. After the last spell, the canvas and frame were engulfed in flames, and finally Mrs. Black's screams stopped.
Ron caught his eye giving him a triumphant smile. Harry did his best to return it. Once the painting had mostly burned down. Remus put the fire out and banished the ashes.
"Well, it's done." Remus stared down at where the painting had laid a few minutes before. Then, he shook himself. He patted Harry's shoulder then walked back down to the kitchen.
Harry heard as Ron awkwardly complimented first Ginny and then Hermione on tricking Mrs. Black as they walked towards the stairs.
"But Ron, I wasn't lying," said Hermione. "Objects can't perform magic. The painting was only completing a charm that the living Mrs. Black had performed long ago. The painting didn't have any magic itself, only the magic that Mrs. Black had allotted to it. That's why I think this whole business about items like Harry's sneakoscope can be ridiculous. Who knows who made them…"
"Hey! I bought that sneakoscope from a reputable vendor!" Harry heard Ron shout as they climbed the last few stairs up to the first floor.
Ginny snorted and added, "Yeah and he sold the best baklava in the market!"
They climbed the stairs together leaving him alone in front of the place where Mrs. Black's painting had been.
Harry stood looking at the blank rectangle on the wall. There was a surprising difference between the wall around the painting and the wall behind. The painting can't have been that old, thought Harry.
He couldn't understand why he wasn't more pleased with what had happened. Instead that familiar ache was still there. Having Mrs. Black gone didn't make it any easier to deal with Sirius being gone, or the prophecy, or the hearing. Really all he'd succeed at was getting rid of one small problem in a world of much larger and more painful problems. He sighed and sat back in the chair he'd pulled from the dinning room. The thoughts in his head kept swirling around. Time and time again he came back to Hermione's question, "How do you keep from becoming the thing which you are fighting against?"
After a while, he joined the others in the drawing room. They had already begun to play games, and they invited Harry to join in. Harry elected to sit back and watch trying to sort out his thoughts. Hermione joined him after awhile.
"Is everything all right, Harry?" she asked.
Harry shrugged.
Hermione was quiet for a while. "You know, I didn't really think you could get Mrs. Black down that way. Harry, you did it." Hermione gave him a sad smile.
"Maybe you'll feel better now and not so angry?"
Harry nodded avoiding her eyes. Finally, feeling ashamed of himself, he told her, "It didn't really help like I thought it would." Harry braced himself for her lecture. When several minutes had passed and Hermione still didn't say anything, Harry glanced up at her.
Hermione was staring out the window lost in thought.
"Hermione?"
She sighed and turned back to him with a rueful smile. "Harry, I want to help you, but I don't think that I can.
"Maybe…maybe you should talk to Remus about what you're going through. Maybe he could help you." Hermione stood up from her chair, and then she reached over and kissed Harry on the forehead.
"Harry, I learn from you everyday. You're a hero in my mind, and I'm proud to be your friend." She smiled at him with tears in her eyes, and then walked back to where the others were playing Exploding Snap.
Harry stared after her in amazement. He didn't know what to think anymore. The tears in Hermione's eyes had reminded him a little too much of Cho and left him feeling uneasy. She hadn't even suggested a book to him.
Finally, he left the room.
Once in the hallway, he headed up to his room. He closed the door behind him and sat on his bed. Thinking maybe what he needed was more sleep, he tried taking a nap, but that didn't work. He watched Ron's posters for a while, but quickly got bored with that.
After a long time had passed, he got up and walked over to his trunk. There he pulled out his Occlumency text.
Anger Myths:
Myth #1- Other people cause us to become angry. (Actually this is true when applied to Snivellus)
Myth #2- If the source of our stress were removed our anger would dissipate. (Also true if applied to my mum)
Myth #3- Venting is the only way to get rid of anger. (Maybe not, but it is fun!)
Myth #4- Venting can reduce and even eliminate anger.
Myth #5- We have the right to be angry when bad things happen. (What? How can that be a myth? If something bad happens, I'm going to get angry! That's just the way it is! I can't control the way I feel!)
Harry away from the book in surprise suddenly remembering that he'd said the same things to Hermione that morning. Weren't they true? How could you control your feelings? Didn't you just feel what you feel?
He looked a second time at the myths above number five, this time focusing more on the myth than on Sirius' comments. He'd been blaming his anger on other people, but that hadn't solved any problems. He had thought if he could get rid of Mrs. Black than he would feel better, but that hadn't work either. Venting, well he'd been venting for a year. He'd yelled at his friends, then Dumbledore, and then Mrs. Black. He'd only ever felt embarrassment afterwards.
Confused by his thoughts, Harry went back to reading.
Myth #6- We are justified in our anger. (If this writer had had people like Snivellus and my Mum to get mad at, he'd feel differently about that!)
Myth #7- Anger is uncontrollable. (Yup! Just like me!)
Myth #8- Life should be fair. This one I really don't get! I mean why shouldn't life be fair? It isn't, believe me I know all about that! But why shouldn't it be?
Harry thought about that. Why shouldn't life be fair? He didn't know the answer. He had a lot of experience with unfairness between the Dursleys and his less pleasant experiences in the Wizarding world. Of course it wasn't fair for anyone, was it? It wasn't fair that Ron, who'd always loved Quidditch so much, had to really struggle to be a good player while Harry, who'd never even known what it was, made the team as a first year. It wasn't fair that Hermione, the smartest witch he knew, was looked down on and mocked by other witches and wizards because she was a Muggleborn, and it wasn't fair that Remus, one of the best teachers he'd ever had, wasn't allowed to teach just because he was a werewolf.
Actually a lot of things weren't fair for Remus. Harry started wondering how Remus felt about that. How did Remus keep from getting angry all the time?
Harry put his book down and thought back to Dumbledore's visit at the Burrow. It seemed so long ago.
After Dumbledore had told them about the hearing and Harry had run up to Ron's room, Remus had come up stairs to talk to Harry.
After hearing a short knock on the door, Harry reluctantly got off the bed and unlocked the door. There was only a little sunlight left, and the room was mostly in darkness now. Harry moved back to his bed and sat down. He didn't say anything, and for several long moments neither did Remus.
"Sirius left a letter for me to read in case something happened to him," began Remus. Harry looked at him in amazement. No one had dared even speak Sirius' name in front of him since he'd come to the burrow, but Remus went on as though there was nothing unusual in discussing a letter from Sirius. Perhaps there wasn't.
"He asked me to look after you, Harry, but he warned me that looking after you was a near impossible task. So the next best thing I'd be able to do for you is to try to be there for you when bad things happened."
Harry looked down without saying anything. When Remus didn't say anything else, Harry looked up at him. Remus was watching the Chudley Cannon's keeper who had a habit of hitting the rings he was guarding. Sure enough, a few seconds later the keeper was falling to the sand below after hitting his head on a quaffle and being knocked back into the goal post.
"This hearing is one of those times, Harry. I can't really do anything to help you, but I'll be there with you, I promise you that."
"Professor," began Harry, but Remus interrupted him.
"I'm not your professor anymore. Call me Remus, or I'm going to hex you," he told Harry.
"Right, well, what's going to happen to me? I tried to do an unforgivable curse on Bellatrix."
"I don't know, Harry," said Remus. Harry was both grateful and disappointed that Remus didn't offer him any false promises. "Given the circumstances, your age, and the fact that you didn't succeed…nothing may happen. You might receive a full pardon."
"But with the Ministry the way it is these days," finished Harry, "there's no way to be sure. Is that what you were going to say, Professor?" And just like that Harry noticed he had pink feathers growing out of his hands and face. When he tried to speak, all he managed was a squawk.
"I'm sorry, Harry," Remus told him regretfully. "If you continue to insist on calling me Professor, I'm afraid I'm going to have to ignore you."
"Squawk! Squawk!" said Harry flapping his feather covered arms..
"This is the Flamingo Hex. Very interesting. You retain your basic shape, well except for your backside which has grown quite a bit I see, and you get new pink feathers, a lovely beak and a squawking voice," said Remus conversationally. "I learned it just for Sirius…all that black hair—pink was definitely his color!"
"Squawk! Squawk! Squawk!"
"Oh yes, no need to worry, Harry. I have pictures. Of course I'll show them to you. Which reminds me…" Remus pulled a camera out of a previously empty pocket, and took several pictures of Harry before he began molting.
"Squawk! Squamus! Squemus! Remus!" said Harry finally getting his voice back. Remus raised his eyebrows questioningly.
"Yes, Harry? Is there something wrong?" asked Remus with a genuine look of interest. But Harry couldn't be angry a moment longer, and they both began laughing.
Remus had kept his promise during the hearing. Harry wondered if Remus could help him now.
That night, Luna returned just in time for dinner. She was especially cheerful, the happiest Harry had ever seen her, and despite Mrs. Weasley's initial attempts to stop her, she told them all about her day in court.
"And then they asked me if I'd been the one to think of using the Thestrals to get to the Ministry, and I said, 'Yes, of course! I got the idea from the ancient people of Atlantis. Everyone knows they used Thestrals to travel, but then once they perfected the Fountain of Youth they forgot what death looked like, and they could never find their Thestrals to travel with again. Which is why I think we need to organize a search party. Can you imagine being stuck on an island with the same 200 people for thousands of years?' They didn't really say much after that. They must have been ashamed of themselves? So then I told them all about the horrible things that had been happening to a group of Wizards in Ireland who used to live in this town called Brigadoon…"
Mrs. Weasley didn't need to worry about Luna saying something that would influence our testimonies, thought Harry.
Harry went to bed not long after dinner. He practiced his Occlumency meditations without too much difficulty, but it was a long time before he was able to sleep.
As had now become his habit, Harry awoke just in time to see Neville before he left for the Ministry. As he entered the kitchen that morning, he was only mildly surprised to see Neville's Gran seated next to Neville at the table.
"Toast, Mrs. Longbottom?" Mrs. Weasley was asking. "Or tea?"
"No thank you, Molly," said Neville's Gran. "I've already eaten. Neville don't slouch like that when you are eating. It can't be good for your digestion."
"Good morning," said Harry to the room at large. Mr. Weasley was actually there early, and now he was swallowing mouthfuls of food in a manner Harry usually associated with Ron. Remus was there, in the kitchen as usual, wearing his morning garb of baggy corduroy pants, jumper and slippers as he munched on toast and read a Muggle newspaper.
"Good luck today, Neville," said Harry as he sat down across from the Longbottoms.
"He doesn't need luck!" said Mrs. Longbottom sounding affronted. "He simply needs to tell those dunderheads the truth, and if they know what's good for them, they'll finally do something about it."
Harry smiled appreciatively at Mrs. Longbottom. She may be a frightening or an intimidating woman for a young child to grow up with, but she would also be a good person to have behind you when you were facing trouble.
"I think we're going to miss all the fun today, since we're stuck here," Harry joked.
"Exactly what I was thinking," said Remus.
Mrs. Longbottom seemed to blush slightly in acknowledgement of their praise.
"Time to be off then," said Mr. Weasley when Moody entered the room looking for him.
"Bye Harry," said Neville as he followed the adults out of the room.
Harry finished his breakfast in silence. As he was going back upstairs to his room, the Elizabethan Knight called to him.
"So young hoodlum, which relic of the Black family line do you plan to destroy today?"
"Nothing," said Harry curtly and began to walk away.
"What? I thought that was your goal to completely wipe any memory of the Black family from the world." Harry turned around and walked back over to the painting.
"That's not true!"
"So what do you plan to do with us? Your friends have already been talking about ways to get us down so they could paint these walls," the Knight told him.
"Nothing," Harry answered. "We want to paint the walls…but as long as you aren't rude to the people who live here, then you can stay up. I don't really care." Harry could hear the paintings murmuring between each other.
"He might not care, but I do!" said one.
"These walls look horrible," said another. "Do you really think they might put us back up if we allowed ourselves to be taken down?"
"I don't think we should trust him," said the Spinster still doing her needlework.
"What choice do we have?" answered the Knight.
"Wait until Dumbledore gets here," suggested Phineas Nigellus as he squeezed passed a painting of an especially fat man. He continued to make his way downstairs through various paintings until he stood beside the knight. "This boy and that werewolf will do whatever Dumbledore decides they should do, and you know you can trust Dumbledore."
"How do you know you can trust him?" asked Harry in surprise.
"Because I have a front row seat in his office! Haven't you learned anything from studying at Hogwarts? I know exactly what kind of person Albus is, and though he may be a simple minded fool, he at least always tries to do what he thinks is right."
Harry nodded uncertainly.
"Even the Sirius knew that!"
Harry went back to his room and lay down. He still didn't know what to think about Occlumency and controlling his anger. Finally he must have fallen asleep, because the next thing he knew Remus was shaking him awake.
"Hey there, sleepyhead, time for lunch. I've been looking for you."
"Hi Remus," said Harry sitting up. He put his glasses on but made no other move to get up.
Remus had crossed the room, but he stopped when he noticed that Harry was still on his bed.
"Everything alright, Harry?" asked Remus softly walking back towards the bed.
"No, but then it never is," said Harry wanting to lash out again. Harry rubbed his eyes, reminding himself that he'd tried lashing out, and it didn't work. It was time for him to give something else a try.
Remus stood at the end of the bed watching Harry for several minutes. He pulled up a chair and sat down while Harry stared at the ceiling trying to understand his own thoughts.
"It didn't help, did it?" asked Remus. Harry looked at him in surprise.
"What?" asked Harry.
"Getting Mrs. Black off the wall, it didn't make you feel better, did it?" asked Remus.
"No," said Harry with a snort. "Nothing I do lately seems to do any good at all!"
"I wouldn't say that," said Remus with a frown.
"No?" said Harry almost yelling. Suddenly he couldn't stand to be on the bed anymore. He jumped to his feet.
He began to pace, but the room wasn't big enough with so many beds, and he had to turn after ever fourth or fifth step.
"No Harry," answered Remus calmly. "In the few short years since I've met you I have been surprised and impressed by how often you help others."
"You mean my 'saving people thing?'" asked Harry scornfully. "Yeah, I'm really good at saving people. Just look at how I saved Sirius..."
"Yes, let's look at how you saved Sirius," said Remus sounding rather angry as he stood in front of Harry. "You saved Sirius, Harry. You saved him, so that he had friends again. You saved him so that he had a purpose in life besides revenge and murder. You saved him by giving him hope for a future."
"A future he'll never have because of me," Harry shouted. Remus grabbed Harry by the shoulders.
"You saved him by giving him back his honor and treating him with respect and affection," Remus continued as though Harry hadn't spoken.
"What good is honor if he's dead?" asked Harry breaking away from Remus' grasp and sitting heavily on Ron's bed.
"Honor is the beginning of peace, Harry," answered Remus sitting beside him and gently putting his arm around Harry's shoulder. "Because of you, Sirius was able to gain some of his self-respect back.
"Harry, Sirius didn't talk much about his time in Azkaban, but I think when he was there his main thought was always that he'd failed James and Lily...and you. Once he got out, he just wanted to kill Pettigrew, 'bring him to justice' is how he put it. I think, he thought that killing Pettigrew would take away the pain he'd been tortured with during his stay in Azkaban…
"But Harry, he was wrong and he realized that after Pettigrew had escaped. His peace began in the Shrieking Shack…he began to feel better then. He thought it was because we had captured Pettigrew, but then Pettigrew escaped. Sirius' pain still didn't come back though, not completely at least, even when the Dementors attacked, it was different."
"Sirius really loved you, Harry. I hope you know that because he would have thought his life was a failure if you didn't at least know that."
Harry nodded feeling too choked up to speak. They sat in silence for several minutes, Remus' arm still around Harry's shoulder.
"Remus? Can I ask you something?" said Harry.
The older man nodded.
"When other people treat you badly because you're a werewolf, how do you keep from getting angry?"
Remus was quiet for a long time, finally he told Harry, "I usually just think it away. I tell myself that they don't know me personally. Their fear is a natural reaction born from ignorance. That maybe if our situations were reversed I'd feel the same way they do."
"I don't think you'd ever treat anyone like that," said Harry.
Remus shrugged, "That's because the events in my life have shaped my personality, just like your life has influenced you. Maybe I would have been just like Sirius if I hadn't suffered through this disease, or worse, like Peter."
"And maybe I would have been like Draco?" asked Harry.
Remus smiled and said, "I don't think your mum would have let you get away with that kind of behavior."
"So I should try to think away my anger?" asked Harry.
Remus shrugged, "Your little experiment with Mrs. Black has been an interesting one for me. I've learned quite a bit from watching all of you."
"How is that?"
"It's kind of like that list you and Ron got in trouble for making jokes about. Each person showed you how they deal with anger in their own way. From Luna uses her math calculations to help her not to take the other person's insults seriously. The twins use humor naturally. Hermione tries to reeducate. Ron gets bored of them and ignores them. Ginny taunts them back. Neville outlasts them. And you, Harry, you stick to what you believe is right.
"I've learned from all of you," Remus told him.
"I hadn't thought about it that way," said Harry in amazement. Remus ruffled his hair.
"Sometimes the answer is there all along, and you just need to look at it from a different angle. Come downstairs. You'll feel better after you've eaten something."
Harry nodded, but stayed seated even after Remus had left the room. Finally with a sigh he stood and walked out of the room and down the stairs.
As he walked down to the ground floor hallway, Harry looked at the paintings still up on the wall. Finally he came to a decision.
"Listen up," he said to the paintings lining the corridor. "You know what happened yesterday, but more importantly you know what Madella Black was like. She was insane. Insulting to everyone, all of you included.
"My godfather was a Black, and I loved him." Harry felt himself choking up. He heard a stair below him creak and realized his friends must be listening in. "Sirius would not have been the man he was if he had not been a Black, and to me he was a great man. So, because I bear his family no grudge beyond that of Madella Black, I am giving you two choices.
"You may have heard others talk about how smart my friend, Hermione Granger, is. I can promise you that if I ask her to find a way to use get you off the wall, especially now that she knows which charm was used, she will find a way.
"Your first choice then is to remain where you are with the condition that you will treat everyone who lives here and everyone who visits here with respect. Well, except Severus Snape, I don't really mind if you insult him. Otherwise I will ask Hermione to get to work.
"Your second choice," Harry told his avid audience, both painting and living. "Is that you come down from the wall. If that is your choice, then you will be placed in storage, probably in the attic, until it is safe for you to leave this house. When the secrets you have heard are no longer dangerous to us, we will give you a choice of where you would like to go—either to Slytherin house at Hogwarts or if you chose to the Malfoys or other relatives."
Harry nodded to them all, and walked away towards the stairs. As he reached the end of the hallway, Remus smiled at him.
"I have one more to add to that list," he told Harry.
Harry looked at Remus in surprise, "What's that?"
"Forgiveness."