Seeing the Past, Present, and Future

Discovery

"I can't believe they're making Harry come back here!"

"I know! Why couldn't he come stay with us or something?"

"Technically he is coming to stay with you, the only problem is that you're at Grimmauld Place, too."

"Oh, be quiet."

Both of Harry Potter's friends silently walked through the halls of Grimmauld Place.

"How's he holding up?" Ron inquired of Hermione.

"I don't know. He hasn't been answering any of my owls," Hermione exasperatedly replied.

"Same here. Hate to admit it but somehow I hope his Aunt and Uncle are just keeping Hedwig from being let out." The red-haired boy sighed. "Do you know when he's coming?"

"I don't know, but the later the better. For him."

"Harry!"

"Harry, mate, good to see you."

"Hello Hermione, hello Ron," the messy-haired boy replied, somewhat nervously.

"How've you been?" Ron asked, slapping Harry on the back.

"Good. I've been good," he uncertainly replied.

"That's wonderful to hear, Harry," Hermione said, smiling.

"Did you get our owls?" his other friend inquired, somehow attempting to tip-toe around the question.

"Yeah. Yeah I did. You know, I've just been...busy," Harry distractedly replied, running his hand through his hair as they walked up the path to Grimmauld Place.

"That's fine, Harry," Hermione replied, her voice full of energy as she hit Ron behind Harry's back for being so insensitive. "I can't believe all of the homework we were given over the summer, can you? I mean of course I've already finished all of it, but," Hermione continued speaking, attempting to show that Harry had all the reason in the world to be busy, even though all three of them knew he did not.

"Hey, mate, do you want to play a game of quidditch?" asked Ron, wanting to drag the subject away from school.

"It's okay. Think I'll just settle in, you know," Harry said looking around the walls of Grimmauld Place to avoid seeing his friends and their not-so-cleverly disguised looks of concern.

"Okay, Harry," Hermione said, an understanding look on her face.

"Alright, mate. What do you--ow!" Ron was interrupted by Hermione "accidentally" stepping on his foot. "I mean, um, okay, we'll see you around." Both of Harry's friends exited his temporary room.

Why do they have to act like that? he thought with a surge of anger toward his friends. He knew they were just trying to be sympathetic, but he hated it. He had done his mourning for Sirius. Some might call him insensitive, but he found it best to mourn and feel those feelings of sadness and regret, and then lock them up. It was too painful to think about and his friends' concerns were more of a white-hot iron of pain to him than seeing Grimmauld Place. Grimmauld Place had never been connected to Sirius in his mind; the house itself had never been anything like Sirius, despite the fact he came from it.

Standing up, Harry realized he had been lying back on his bed. He vaguely decided to walk around a bit, just to give him some more time to sort out his thoughts. Have I even seen the whole house? Harry let his mind wander. Indeed, it turned out he had not, for he came upon a collection of rooms that he had never seen before. Soon his thoughts feel far away from his godfather and friends as he looked around the new rooms and the artifacts they held.

Harry was picking up a small, delicately embroidered box, when suddenly a scream pierced the air, causing the blood in his veins to turn ice-cold. He dropped the box and whipped out his wand, edging uncertainly toward the door and glancing around the corner. Harry glanced into several of the surrounding rooms as the scream seemed to have come from nearby, although it could have just been a trick of the sound.

Exiting a room, something caught his eye. A young girl was lying still on the floor. Harry felt his muscles tense. Considering all of the Dark Magic in Grimmauld Place, he wouldn't have been surprised if it was simply another trick. Harry edged uncertainly toward her, his wand out, as the sound of running people became audible.

"Harry!" Mrs. Weasley shrieked, embracing him.

"We heard a scream, but we couldn't tell from where. What happened?" Charlie Weasley asked. Evidently he was at the Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix, even if only temporarily.

"I don't know," Harry spoke, his pulse returning to normal now that others were close by. "Something appeared but I'm not sure what--it," Harry was unsure what had prompted him to call the young girl "it," "Is. It might just be some of the Dark Magic around..." he trailed off.

"Yeah," Charlie said uncertainly. "Are you okay?" he asked shooting a quick glance at Harry.

Harry opened his mouth to make some remark about how tired he was of everybody asking him if he was alright when his godfather had just passed away. That is, before he realized that Charlie's concern undoubtedly spouted from the heard scream. "Um, yeah," Harry spoke, slightly embarrassed for his thoughts.

Charlie nodded and edged into the room, Mrs. Weasley following. "Harry, I think you should go meet Ron and Hermione," she spoke sharply. Harry nodded and left, realizing they weren't quite sure what it was.

The girl vaguely felt herself being picked up before she welcomed the darkness back.

"So she's really just a girl?"

"Not some Death Eater in disguise?"

"Or some spell bent on killing us?"

"Yes, she's just some girl. She doesn't have a wand on her, so as far as we know--" Mad-Eye Moody gave a cough before Mrs. Weasley scowled and finished. "So as far as we know, she's harmless."

"Alright," Harry spoke, not quite sure whether or not he believed the Order members; they had kept things from him before.

"And we're not lying to you," Tonks winked at Harry.

"That's weird," Hermione spoke, "She still hasn't woken up. It's been close to 18 hours."

"I told you it was some spell!" Ron triumphantly said.

"Oh, get a grip, Ron," his bushy-hair friend responded. "It. Honestly. She's just a lost five-year old girl."

"Lost? How'd she break the Fidelius charm then? Surely Dumbledore doesn't go around telling random people the address of the Headquarters," Ron replied.

"No, of course not," Hermione spoke, annoyed.

Harry watched his friends argue, and checked his watch. It was about 10 AM. Silently, Harry felt he agreed more with Ron than Hermione. Something just didn't seem...right.

The girl's eyelids fluttered.

"See!" Hermione swooped over to the girl's bed. "She's waking up." Hermione gave a rather pronounced look to Ron who had just been saying that since she was a Dark Magic spell she would never wake.

"Hello," Hermione kindly spoke, leaning over the girl. The girl seemed to be teetering on the brink of unconsciousness. "I'm Hermione Granger."

"Don't give it your name!" Ron hissed at her.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "This is Ron Weasley," the girl appeared to become confused. "And this is Harry Potter," she said, gesturing accordingly.

The girl screamed.

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, nor his world.