Chapter Nine

"Harry?" Sirius's voice came closer. "Harry, are you alright? What's wrong, Harry?"

"I don't want you to die," Harry moaned, his head buried in Sirius's chest, making his voice muffled. Sirius's brow furrowed.

"Die? I'm not going to die, Harry."

Harry stretched and yawned, blinking his eyes repeatedly to get used to the sunlight that streamed in through his window. He furrowed his brow, thinking of the dream he just had. He picked up his glasses and adjusted them on his face, flipping the covers off of him. Was it a dream, or another one of visions? Harry wondered to himself. He noticed that Sirius wasn't out in the kitchen, or in the living room watching the television. He had no clue what time it was, or if Sirius was even awake yet.

Only one way to find out, Harry thought to himself as he quietly and tentatively knocked on Sirius's closed door. No reply. He knocked again, afraid that if he knocked too loud and—if Sirius was sleeping—woke him up, that his Godfather would be mad.

So, Harry quietly opened the door to peek in. Sirius was still fast asleep. I better not wake him up. Harry bit his lip as his stomach growled in hunger. He was starving for some breakfast, but he didn't want to wake Sirius up. He was eager to tell Sirius of his other vision, and also eager to hear Sirius's opinion about it. But, for the breakfast, Harry decided he would be able to make bacon and eggs on his own. It couldn't be that hard. And as for the vision, Harry would just have to wait for Sirius to wake up to tell him about that.

Harry got the bacon out and put it on a pan that was already getting hot. He hesitantly got out the eggs, careful not to let one of them slip. He cracked the eggs open at poured it into another pan that was filled with just the right amount of water. Just as the bacon started sizzling, Harry looked over at the food on the stove. He bit his lip as he looked it all over. I should give this to Sirius, Harry thought. Breakfast-in-bed for when he wakes up. He'll like that. His stomach rumbled again. I could just have cereal, Harry decided.

He got out a plate to put the bacon and eggs on, careful not to burn himself on the hot pan.

"Harry?" Harry quickly spun around, eyes wide, heart thumping. That wasn't Sirius's voice. "Harry," the man said, with a smile. "How are you feeling?" Harry blinked a couple of times.

"Uh…I - I'm fine Mis - Mister —" Harry paused, having no clue who the mans name was.

"Remus Lupin," the man greeted. "Is Sirius still sleeping?" Remus asked with a shake of his head. "That man could sleep for hours, I tell you."

"Ow!" Harry yelped in pain as the tip of his finger skimmed across the burning hot pain. He put the top of the burned finger in his mouth, sucking on it as if he could suck the tingling pain out of his finger.

"Are you alright?" Concerned, Remus walked up to the boy. Harry looked up at Remus warily before nodding.

"My finger just hurts," Harry said, blinking back some tears that threatened to fall.

"Come here," Remus instructed, taking Harry's arm and gently guiding him over to the sink. He turned the cold tap on, and Harry put his finger under the cold running water. His finger immediately felt better, as if the cold water was soothingly taking all of his pain in his finger away. When he pulled that finger out of the tap, it was five seconds before his finger started to burn again. He gave an inaudible sigh and stuck his finger back under the running water.

"Will I have to keep my finger under here all day?" Harry asked.

"Not all day," Remus replied. "You could keep something cold on your finger until the pain leaves. Does Sirius have a washcloth?" he asked. "You could wet the washcloth and keep that wrapped around your finger if you want."

"I'm not sure if he has a washcloth," Harry replied.

"Well, we'll just go see, won't we?" said Remus with a grin. Harry gave a half-hearted smile.

"So, who exactly are you?" Harry asked, sucking in a deep breath as he removed his finger from the water and followed Remus Lupin to the bathroom.

"I told you I who I was before you burned your finger," he reminded Harry.

"I know," Harry replied patiently. "You never told me how you knew Siri - Padfoot, though."

Remus still grinned, wrapping the washcloth around Harry's finger. "You didn't give me time to tell you. Burning your finger and all." Harry smiled and thanked Remus, rushing out to check on the eggs and bacon.

"Who's that for?" Remus asked as he joined Harry in the kitchen. Harry grinned.

"It's for Siri - Padfoot," he replied.

"Do you need help with that?" Remus offered as he watched Harry try to put the food on a plate.

"Thanks," Harry replied. He glanced at Sirius's door to see if the smell of the food had woken his godfather up. It hadn't.

"There you go," Remus said. Harry looked up and grinned.

"Thanks, Remus," He said, carefully taking the plate and walking to Sirius's door. As he reached for the doorknob, he looked back. "Aren't you coming?" Harry waited until Remus followed him until he opened the door.

"How do I wake him up?" Harry asked. Remus looked thoughtful.

"Harry, Sirius did tell you about Hogwarts, didn't he?" Remus asked tentatively. Harry nodded eagerly. "Well, when he, your father, myself and…Peter Pettigrew went to Hogwarts, Sirius was a deep sleeper. Nothing would ever wake him up. We could only wake him up by getting a cup of cold (or hot) water and pouring it on his face," Remus paused, thinking. "And another thing that would wake him up was the smell of food."

"Oh," Harry replied, looking at the plate that he held in his grasp. He went over closer to his godfather, holding the food in front of Sirius's face.

Slowly, Sirius's eyes opened. "Mmmm…what smells so good?"

"You're breakfast," Harry said cheerfully. He steadied the plate on Sirius's stomach.

"You made me breakfast?" Sirius said, surprised. Harry nodded.

"At first I was making it for me…but then I decided to make it for you!" Sirius eyed the cloth around Harry's finger.

"What happened, kiddo?"

"Oh," Harry said, glancing at his finger. "I burned it on the pan." Sirius furrowed his brow.

"Wasn't Remus with you, though?"

Harry looked sheepish and shook his head. "No, he wasn't. He came awhile after. Don't be mad!" Harry said quickly; almost pleadingly. "I…I don't know why I used the stove without an adult there with me! For some reason I just thought…that I could cook. I mean, I don't remember doing it before but it seemed almost…easy." Harry shook his head. "I don't know; just please don't be mad."

"I'm not mad," Sirius said sincerely.

"You're not?" Harry asked quietly. Sirius grinned and shook his head, setting the plate that was filled with food beside him so he could use his arms to wrap around his godson in a hug.

"Just next time promise me when you use the stove or oven that you'll have an adult present with you, OK?" Harry nodded.

"I promise." Harry grinned lightly, looking up at Remus. He felt embarrassed that Remus Lupin was there to witness what had happened between him and his Godfather.

"Oh, Moony," Sirius said, just noticing his old friend was in the room. "What're you here for?"

"Just wanted to check on Harry," Remus replied. "And to tell you that I've decided that I will move in with you two." Sirius looked at his friend in surprise.

"Really? You're going to move in with Harry and I?" Remus gave Sirius a look before answering.

"Remember what I said before: I am for Harry."

"Me? You're moving in for me?" Now it was Harry's turn to be surprised. "Why?"

"I'll tell you after," Remus promised.

… … …

"Beautiful breakfast," Sirius said with a smile. Harry smiled back.

"Really? Thank you." Sirius looked at Harry oddly.

"You all right, Harry? You look like you want to talk to someone about something." Harry hesitated.

"I actually do," He admitted. "I was going to wake you up after I had the dream…but you were asleep, so I decided not to bug you."

"You could never bug me, Harry," Sirius replied truthfully. "And as you can see, I'm wide awake now. Ready to talk?"

"Yeah," Harry said. "Can we sit down, first?"

"'Course," Sirius replied. They sat down on the couch (where they usually sit at when they have a talk.)

"Alright," Harry started. "Well the dream—actually, I don't even know if it's a dream. I think it was a vision. I had another one of those visions disguised as my dream…" he trailed off, looking confused. "Does that even make sense, Sir—Padfoot?"

"In a way. Your telling me you had a vision while you were sleeping…which would almost qualify as a dream. Am I right?"

Harry nodded. "Yeah. Sort of."

"So…are you going to tell me what this dream-slash-vision was about?" Sirius pressed Harry to continue.

"Oh, it was another one of you. And me. I didn't like that vision at all," Harry admitted. "We were talking about stuff. I said I didn't want you to die…" he trailed off. "Sir—Padfoot, when do these visions happen? Are they visions of the future…or the past…or…?"

"Don't you remember me telling you that these aren't 'visions,' Harry. They're flashbacks—of before the car accident," Sirius explained.

"Oh," Harry replied. Suddenly, an idea struck Sirius.

"Kiddo…do you want to go out today?" Harry brightened.

"Sure. Where, Sir—Padfoot?"

"I was actually thinking of the Hospital." Harry looked perplexed.

"The Hospital? What's so special about the Hospital? Do I have to get a needle?"

Sirius smiled. "No, Harry. No needle. I was actually thinking of visiting a couple of people there."

… … …

"Harry!" Isabella gasped as Sirius and Harry entered the Hospital room. "Oh my god," tears poured down the woman's face. "I—I'm so sorry, Sirius," Isabella said. "I had no idea it would end up raining that hard…we were going to go back, and call you when we got back to my place but…but the lightning…"

"It's alright," Sirius said. "Harry's not hurt, it's fine. How are you feeling?"

Isabella ignored Sirius's question. "I was so scared when I woke up and saw my Matt lying on the bed in front of me unconscious; and then when I saw Harry's empty bed I thought…I thought…"

"How are you feeling, Isabella?" Sirius repeated. "How's Matt?" The tears Isabella cried slowly subsided.

"He's fine," she replied, sniffling. "He doesn't have anything wrong with him. Except for a few bumps and bruises. He went down to the vending machine," she smiled sadly. "Matt tells me that the sandwiches they feed him are yucky, and that he'd rather have ice cream instead." She gave Harry a sad, apologetic smile. "How are you feeling, Harry? Better?"

Harry looked at the woman warily. He clung onto Sirius's hand.

"What's wrong with Harry?" Isabella asked. "He didn't lose his voice in the accident—did he?" She asked frantically.

"No," Sirius replied. "He just has amnesia."

"Amnesia?" Isabella cried. "H…Harry has amnesia?" Sirius nodded in reply. "I'm surprised you're even letting Harry near me," Isabella continued.

"Why's that?" Isabella looked up at Sirius in surprise.

"I was driving the car in that storm. I caused the accident, and I caused Harry to get amnesia."

"No," Sirius contradicted in a kind voice. "The storm caused the accident."

"Hiya, Harry," a young, cheerful voice greeted. It was Matt. "You look better than me," he observed. "How yah doing?"

"Fine," Harry answered shyly.

"What's wrong, Harry? You not feeling good?" Matt asked as he set a can of juice on his Hospital bed.

"I feel fine," Harry replied. He straightened as an image formed in his mind.

"I'm going to invent a new food when I get older," Matt said. Mrs. O'Brien raised her eyebrows as she hurried the two to the car.

"Oh, Matt? And what would your food invention be?"

"Vanilla Mustard Ripple," he announced proudly.

"Vanilla Mustard Ripple?" Harry echoed, scrunching his nose up. "What kind of ice cream flavor is that? It is ice cream, isn't it?"

"Yeah," Matt replied, "and it's going to be a new flavor no one would invent! It'll have vanilla ice cream with mustard through it."

"Ew," Harry and Mrs. O'Brien said at the same time.

"No wonder nobody would invent it. That sounds disgusting," Mrs. O'Brien remarked, starting up the engine. Rain pounded down on the glass, and it slapped down so hard Harry was afraid it might shatter the glass.

"Okay, how about Vanilla and Relish Ripple?" Matt asked innocently. His face brightened. "That does sound cool, doesn't it? Vanilla and Relish Ripple," he repeated, a grin on his face. "Mom, when we get home, I'm going to start working on it right away."

"Vanilla Mustard Ripple," Harry said out loud. Matt looked taken aback.

"What?"

"Vanilla Mustard Ripple," Harry repeated. "You wanted to invent that ice cream."

Matt grinned."Yeah, why?" His grin grew wider. "Oh, yeah! I gotta start working on my Vanilla Relish Ripple when I get home, don't I?" Harry nodded uncertainly. Matt turned to his mother."When are we going home, mum? I don't like the Hospital…you make better food than they do." Isabella laughed.

"Soon, hon. We'll be gone soon," she promised.

"So, kiddo, you wanna go home now?" Sirius asked Harry. Harry nodded in reply and said a small goodbye to Matt and Isabella.

… … …

"How did you know that?" Sirius asked as they walked towards their house.

"Know what?" Harry replied.

"How did you know that 'Vanilla Mustard Ripple' thing?"

Harry hesitated before answering. "I had another one, Sirius. I had another vision."

"And this one was of…?"

"The day of the storm," Harry replied. "At least I think it is. I remember the grey clouds…they were really grey, Padfoot. And then I remember the rain. It was raining out, and it was coming down so hard," he explained.

Sirius put a hand on Harry's shoulder, shushing him. He was trying to block out that nights events, and he didn't need reminding of what the weather was like out that night.

He never wanted to think about that storm or the accident, it was a thing of the past. Sirius sighed inwardly. He blamed himself for what happened, and he didn't think he'd ever think otherwise.

… … …

A/N: Thanks for the reviews so far, and… R and R for the next chapter!