"Harry, are you alright? Snape owled me. What in the blazes is happening?" said Sirius. Harry burst into tears. "Sirius..." he choked. "I told you, Mr. Black. I'm terribly sorry, but he's become mentally unstable. He's going to need to be sent to Saint Mungo's for a temporary evaluation." said Pomfrey. "My arse! You're not sending him to the loony bin!" said Sirius. He approached Harry, who was still crying loudly. "Mr. Black, he may be a danger to himself or others. This is beyond my expertise. You can't simply take him home --" said Pomfrey. "The hell I can't. Whatever's wrong with him, I'll fix it myself." said Sirius. He looked down at Harry as Pomfrey sighed in exasperation and threw up her hands. "Mr. Black, you are not a healer! If I can't help him, I don't see how you --" said Pomfrey. "He doesn't need a healer, he needs rest and family and time away from this bloody school where that little Weasle bashes his head into stalls and gets away with murder! It's him who should be in restraints, not my Godson!" barked Sirius, angrily.
"You do not have the authority to remove him untill it's been decided that he is not a danger to himself or others." said Pomfrey, annoyed, and she left the room.
Sirius flipped her off without looking at her, then looked back at Harry. Concern took over Sirius' face. He put a hand on Harry's shoulder. Harry wanted nothing more than to throw his arms around Sirius. Sirius was alive! Sirius was alive! In flesh and blood! "I'M SO HAPPY TO SEE YOU!" Harry yelled, without thought. Sirius nodded. He was smiling, but had a worried expression on his face. He squoze Harry's shoulder and then Harry saw him take out his wand. "I'm getting you out of here. We're going home." whispered Sirius. He aimed his wand at the restraints, and one by one they snapped. Harry sat up and grabbed Sirius, hugging him fiercely. "Dear Lord, Harry, what's happened to you?" Sirius asked. After a few moments, Sirius pried Harry away. "Come on then, Harry, we've got to go before Pomfrey tries to drag you to Saint Mungo's." said Sirius. Feeling shaky and elated, Harry quickly headed with Sirius towards the exit. They were stopped by Pomfrey, her wand drawn and two assistants at her side who also had their wands out.
They halted, and then Sirius drew his own wand, growling. "Get your wand out, Harry!" he hissed. "Huh?" said Harry. Apparently, Sirius wanted to fight Pomfrey and her assistants. Somewhere in his mind Harry thought that wasn't such a great idea, but he reached for his wand anyway. "Oh... Malfoy, er, I mean Ron stole it." said Harry, ashamed. "Ron? You mean Weasle? Again? That little..." said Sirius.
"Mr. Black, you are behaving like a madman yourself. Perhaps you would do well with a visit to Saint Mungo's!" said Pomfrey. "Perhaps you would do well with... THIS!" said Black, and he hissed a curse just as Pomfrey cried, "Expellaramus!" and his wand flew into her hand. "Honestly, Black! This is absurd! We aren't talking about locking the boy up for life, but he is not well!" Pomfrey said. Black growled. He grabbed Harry's arm. "You aren't putting Harry in the loony bin. I've been there, that place is a corrupt, just like Dumbledore's school!" said Sirius. At that moment, Dumbledore stepped into the room. He glared coldly at Sirius, then at Harry. Harry was so swept up in seeing Sirius -- a familiar Sirius, THE Sirius -- that he was shocked all over again to see this bizarre, sinister Dumbledore.
"I wouldn't worry about my school not meeting your high standards, Mr. Black. You won't be setting foot in it again, and if you do not depart at this moment, you shall soon find yourself removed and facing criminal charges. Your Godson has disrupted this school and has been deemed by our healer to be of unsound mind. He will be taken to Saint Mungo's for evaluation. The matter is not up for debate. Not that you would know how." Dumbledore stated. "If my Godson's lost any of his sanity, it's due to the influence of this foul sham you call a school. How come Weasle and his goons never get in trouble for any of the little pranks they pull! Because the Headmaster is practically in league with Voldemort" said Sirius. Pomfrey and her assistants gasped. "--and he couldn't stand to see a member of the great pureblooded Weasleys taken to task. Some day, you foul old fool, it's you who will be tossed out of this school!" said Sirius.
"Are you quite finished with your tantrum, Mr. Black? Because it seems to me that you and your burden are still the only ones being removed from my school." said Dumbledore. Sirius literally bared his teeth at Dumbledore in a vicious snarl. "Pomfrey, take care of Mr. Potter. Winchet!" said Dumbledore. Harry saw Dumbledore's personal, hairy house elf, Winchet appear once again. "Show Mr. Black to the door." said Dumbledore. "You aren't locking up my Godson in the loony bin. En Gaurde!" said Sirius, aiming his wand at Dumbledore's head. Dumbledore sneered, a strange smile on his face. "For threatening me, I'll gladly have you imprisioned, Mr. Black." said Dumbledore.
"Sirius, stop! Please, just put your wand down. Everything'll be ok, I'll just go to Saint Mungo's for a couple of days --" said Harry.
"Shut up, Harry! Come on, Albus! I've been wanting a piece of you for years." said Sirius. "Very well." smiled Dumbledore. In a lightening quick move, Dumbledore had aimed his wand at Sirius and, without Dumbledore saying a word, Sirius was hanging upside down, his robes falling over his head. Harry looked quickly away as he saw that Sirius had no underpants on.
"Let him down, now! You haven't got any right to do that!" Harry growled, still looking at the floor.
Sirius was cursing and spewing threats at Dumbledore. Harry glanced back and saw Sirius' arms flailing around his head and his wand on the floor. Dumbledore flicked his wand and Sirius went mute. Harry shook his head, unable to believe what was happening. Dumbledore let out a cruel chuckle; a very strange sound to hear.
"Now, I shall have to evict you from the school myself. After that, the proper authorities can take over this matter." Dumbledore said. Dumbledore gave a little cruel smirk, his eyes cold, then began to float Sirius out the door. Harry's eyes bulged.
"Wh- What are you doing! You can't -- Stop it! YOU CAN'T DRAG HIM THROUGH THE WHOLE DAMN SCHOOL LIKE THAT!" shouted Harry. He started to run towards Dumbledore, but was held back by the burlier of Pomfrey's assistants.
"Potter, there's nothing we can do about the Headmaster's decisions. Please calm down, or I'll have to put you out again." sighed Pomfrey, wearily. But Harry wouldn't listen; he wasn't about to see Sirius humiliated in front of the entire school. This otherworldly Dumbledore had gone too far. He was not going to get away with this. But as Harry continued to jerk and shout, Pomfrey lifted her wand and in an instant the scene had come to an abrupt end.
The next thing Harry knew, he was stuck inside a small, pleasant looking room with his arms and legs once again strapped to a bed. He realized they must have gone ahead and put him in Saint Mungo's. Where was Sirius? Had he gotten himself into Sirius trouble over his outburst with the evil version of Dumbledore? Had Dumbledore really paraded him through the entire school with his robes around his head, bare arsed naked? Harry felt sizzling fury at this Dumbledore. Headmaster or not, he had no right to do that to Sirius, or to anyone.
Harry's thoughts of Sirius crowded out Dumbledore. He was ecstatic over being able to see a living Sirius again, but he still knew that this was a strange and foriegn place and that everything was uncertain. He tried to push down the small, miserable thought that this wasn't his Sirius, that his Sirius was lost forever and nothing could ever change that. Harry told himself that this was Sirius, period, and that this was a miraculous second chance to be with him. After all, Harry wasn't dealing with some bizarre, unknown personality like what Ron or Draco Malfoy had become. Ok, maybe Sirius was a little bit less balanced than before, but he was still the same man. But the longer Harry lay there by himself, the more wrong something felt inside. Just as he was wishing desperately for something outside his head to distract him, Neville, Malfoy and Pansy Parkinson walked into the room.
They were all smiling. Neville's smile seemed the most natural; Malfoy's was a bit tense and awkward, and Pansy's was a bit too bright and cheerful. They all greeted him and approached the bed.
"Hey, Harry. How you feeling?" asked Neville. Harry shrugged, not sure what to say. "Still a bit off." he said.
"Yheah, Snape talked to us about that..." said Neville. "He did? What did he say?" asked Harry. "The whole bit about falling in from an alternate reality, and not really being our Harry. That in your world, you were, er, The Boy Who Lived, and Dumbledore's a right good guy..." said Neville. "And you and I are mortal enemies." mentioned Malfoy, frowning slightly. "Yheah. I guess he pretty much explained it to you. Do you think I'm mental?" said Harry. Pansy shook her head immediately. "Of course we don't think that!" she said. "Urm...no...I reckon it's just a little hard to understand, that's all..." said Malfoy, trying to avoid eye contact. Neville shrugged. "It seems like stuff's always happening that confuses us all, but in the end there's an explaination. I want to help you figure this out." said Neville.
"And hey, we'll be your friends even if you are mental." Malfoy offered. Neville and Pansy shot him looks, but Harry smiled. Might as well go with the flow, as Snape said. "Erm, thanks, Draco." he said. Draco smiled, looking more at ease.
To be continued.