Chapter five

Fred yanked the car door open and pulled Harry out onto the street.

"Hi Harry!" George practically yelled in his face.

"Er Hi, what are you doing here?"

"We've come to rescue you" Fred said with his biggest grin yet.

George stuck his wand out into the street signalling for the knight bus which joined them seconds later.

"O 'ello Neville er I mean Harry. "Where to sirs?"

"The burrow" replied George, pulling Harry onto the knight bus.

"You'll be on the second deck" said Stan gesturing towards the stairs "just yell if you need anything"

Harry sat on the purple cushion seat in shock. Just a few minutes ago uncle Vernon was about to tell him his secret and now he was on the way to the burrow and probably wasn't going to be able to speak to Uncle Vernon until the end of the next school year. He couldn't help feeling angry at Fred and George for just assuming he wanted to leave like that but then again after all the years he had moaned about the Dursley's why would they think any different?

"We'll accio your luggage over as soon as we get home" said Fred "oh and then we might be going to spend the rest of the summer at Grimmauld place"

A lump suddenly surfaced in Harry's throat at the thought of returning to Sirius's old house. George must have noticed his change of expression because he asked worriedly;

"Is that alright?"

"Yeah" Harry choked out "I'm off to go see if Stan has something to eat"

And he hurried out of the compartment.

Instead of heading downstairs he made his way onto the deserted top deck and sat down at the back. He had managed to keep Sirius off his mind for most of the summer but now he felt those old feelings trying to resurface. He had refused to let himself cry in front of other people, especially the Dursleys. The Burrow would be even worse though, usually he loved going there and having all the Weasleys around him- they were like his family- but there were constant interruptions over there and with all of this going on he needed time alone with his thoughts.

There was so much buzzing through his mind; Sirius, Voldemort, the prophesy, and now this Uncle Vernon thing. How could it be that the man who all his life he had known to hate wizards more than anything in world was only half an hour ago inside a pensieve talking to Albus Dumbledore the most powerful wizard alive. Harry's head began to throb so he laid down on the long back seat and felt himself drift in to a deep sleep.

Harry was once again in the long corridor leading to the Department of Mysteries. He took the familiar route to the end door and went in. Instead of coming into the circular room he was next to the veil. It was exactly as it was the day Sirius died. He could hear the voices whispering from the other end and felt sadness overwhelm him.

"Give him back!" he found himself shouting at the inanimate archway. "Just send him back out!"

To Harry's surprise the piece of cloth was blown upwards and his Godfather stepped out looking as though nothing had happened.

"Hey, Harry" he said nonchalantly.

"Si-Sirius?" Harry croaked out,

"Yep".

A huge grin spread across Harry's face.

"I can't believe you're alive! I-"

Harry felt a huge jerk as though he was using a portkey and the Department of Mysteries blurred around him. Just after he saw Sirius disappear, Harry hit a hard stone floor.

He could tell he was underground because there was no light coming in except from the torches hanging from brackets on the wall. In the corner three figures stood. They seemed not to have noticed his arrival.

He sneaked into the shadows and moved closer to get a better look at the two people who he instantly recognized as Voldemort and Wormtail. The third had his arms strapped to the wall and stood slumped, unmoving. Harry's stomach gave a sickening lurch as he realised the man was dead. The dead man's face was in shadow. He tried to move closer to get a better look but he stopped when he heard someone call his name from across the room.

He spun round to see no one there but heard the voice echo through the room again. He looked nervously at Voldemort and Wormtail but they were talking to each other in quiet murmurs as though nothing had happened.

"Harry!" he heard again but this time louder. "Harry. Wake up!"

He felt sunlight breach his eyelids and opened them to find him self on the knight bus. Fred Weasley was shaking him awake.

"Come on Harry. We're here"