Chapter 07 – Arrival

Harry didn't know what he had imagined living at Grimmauld Place to be like, but somehow this was different from anything he had imagined. Definitely different from last year, when Ron and Hermione, Fred, George and Ginny had been here. Though Harry had not been in the best of moods at that time either, his friends' presence had clearly made living here more easy. This summer, the house was cleaned up and each room had been inhabitable for quite some time now. Mrs. and Mr. Weasley always found time for a quick chat with him of course, and Remus also spend some time each day with him sitting in the downstairs kitchen, but apart from that, Harry was feeling rather alone.

And one thing that had not changed with his moving to Grimmauld Place – and in all honesty he had not expected it to change – were the nightmares. Nearly every night, Harry relived the events in the Death Chamber, nearly every night he woke up, drenched in sweat and his heart beating so fast that he thought it would burst. The image of Sirius being hit by Bellatrix Lestrange's spell, the astonished look on his godfather's face as he stumbled backwards and fell through the archway, had burned themselves into Harry's brain and surfaced again and again at night, when there was nothing he could do to keep them at bay. He didn't tell anybody about it, though, and neither did he ask anybody for a potion that would stop him from dreaming. That was just the way it was now, he would have to live with those nightmares and hope that they subsided in time. At least he wasn't at Privet Drive anymore, that was really everything he could ask of Remus and the Weasleys. The rest would fall in place soon enough, Harry was sure of that.

There was a constant coming and going in the house, but all of that were visits that concerned the Order. Harry's presence in the house was tolerated in a friendly way, but he was perfectly aware that he was supposed to stay away from all the adult meeting which mostly took place in the kitchen. It angered him, still, despite what had happened last year. Harry simply could not get rid of the feeling that he still didn't know everything he ought to know, that there were still revelations hidden from him. And Harry still didn't know what exactly Voldemort and the Death Eaters had done after he had left Hogwarts. The war had started, but what did that mean? Had there been attacks? He had not read anything in the Daily Prophet, but that didn't necessarily have to mean anything. More than once Harry had wanted to ask Remus, but had always stopped himself. His former teacher was looking more and more stressed and strained, the dark rings under his eyes hinting at a couple of sleepless nights in the least. Harry didn't know how much of it had to do with Remus' lycanthropy. Full moon had been a bit more than a week after Harry had arrived. Remus had vanished for the night, but as he had already looked pale and haggard before he had left, there had not been much difference to his pale and haggard appearance after he returned the next evening. Ever since Harry had known him, Remus had looked ill at times, depending on the phase of the moon, but this had worsened remarkably over the past weeks. Even now, over a week after the full moon, Remus looked just as bad as he had done directly before his transformation. Harry was worried about Remus, but there was nothing he could do as long as he didn't know what exactly was wrong with his former teacher. He didn't want to ask anybody, though. It were Remus' private matters, Harry had no right to pry there. But he guessed that Remus, too, was still grieving for Sirius. After all, Remus and his godfather had been close friends, so Harry guessed that the events in the Death Chamber still bothered him one way or another. Whatever the reason for his bad physical condition, Remus surely had enough on his mind without Harry's worries about Voldemort, so whenever they talked in the kitchen, Harry always restrained himself from coming to the topic of Voldemort and the Death Eaters.

He could have possibly asked Tonks, from all the people in the Order aside from Remus and the Weasleys, she was the one he liked most with her cheerful and open attitude. But Tonks was not at headquarters often, Harry had only seen her once or twice during all his stay here. From what she told, she was extremely busy at work at the moment, as were all the Aurors and the entire DMLE. Not only Tonks, but also Kingsley hardly found the time to drop by at headquarters.

There were still five weeks till the start of his sixth year at Hogwarts, one week till his birthday. A strange thought to celebrate it for the first time, here and under these circumstances. Mrs. Weasley had assured him that the younger children would come from the Burrow today, and Harry found himself waiting anxiously for their arrival. True, all in all it was far better staying here at Grimmauld Place than his with his aunt and uncle, but Ron might be able to distract him from his brooding. And maybe the tension which hung thickly in the air all over the house would loosen a bit. Besides, it would good to see different faces again. That was why Harry was extremely glad to finally hear well-known voices on the corridor outside his room.

"Merlin, Ron", Bill's panting voice sounded. "What did you pack into that trunk? Stones?"

"You could as well levitate the bloody thing. It's not my fault that I'm still not allowed to do any magic during the holidays."

"If Mum hears you talking like that, she'll be scrubbing your mouth with soap, no matter that you're sixteen already."

A moment later the door to Harry's room was opened and Ron came through, followed by a very red-faced and panting Bill. The oldest Weasley son was carrying his youngest brother's trunk in front of him and let it fall to the floor with a loud thud as soon as he had reached the empty bed. Ron threw a scolding look in Bill's direction, then he grinned at Harry.

"Harry, hello! How are you, mate?"

For a fleeting moment Harry asked himself how much Ron knew about his suspected 'suicide' and his stay in hospital, and whether his friend was being cheerful on purpose. But he quickly pushed those thoughts aside.

"Fine Ron, it's good to see you." He clasped a hand on Ron's shoulder, then stretched the other out towards Bill.

"Bill, how are you?"

"I'm fine, thanks. Though it really drives one nuts to play nursemaid for Ron and Ginny all the time."

He grinned, then shrugged as he shook Harry's hand firmly. Bill had not changed much since they had last met. His red hair was still long and tied into a ponytail, and the silver ring with the long tooth was still dangling from his right ear. Harry didn't know how old exactly the oldest Weasley son was, but the only thing that had really changed about him, the only thing which betrayed how much he was also involved in the worrisome war and Order-business were the lines around his eyes. They made him look older, far more mature than the last time Harry had met him.

With a grin Bill challenged Ron to say anything else about him dropping the trunk, then he nodded at the two and left the room with a cheerful "Until later!".

Ron opened his trunk, but instead of unpacking he let himself fall backwards onto his bed.

"Where are the twins and Ginny? And what about Hermione?"

Ron sighed and turned around on the bed.

"Hermione came to the Burrow yesterday evening. She and Ginny came along with Bill, Charlie and me. I guess they'll be up here once they're rid of Charlie and have finished unpacking. I can tell you, ever since Mum and Dad asked him to help them out with looking after us, he has turned into a nursemaid. 'Time to go to bed.' 'Do your homework.' 'Eat your vegetables.' As if we still need babysitting! But anyway. The twins are in their store mostly, but they wanted to drop by in a couple of days."

"What about Percy?"

Ron shrugged and did his best to look indifferent, but it was not hard for Harry to see behind the façade and realize that the topic mattered more to Ron than he dared to admit.

"Dad has seen him at the Ministry once or twice, but that's all. And even then Percy simply ignored his existence. It still makes Mum and Dad pretty angry every time it happens, but…", he shrugged awkwardly. "There's nothing we can do about it now. Percy's a git. Maybe he'll come around, but I don't think that'll be anytime soon. Don't know if it'll ever be the same again even if he does. It's been over a year now that he freaked out, that's a lot of time."

He waved with his hand to sign that he didn't want to talk about that anymore. "What about you? I didn't think you'd be here already, I have to admit. Did anything happen?"

Harry looked completely befuddled for a moment.

"Your parents didn't tell you?"

"Didn't tell me what? They only told us this morning that you were already at Grimmauld Place, but nothing else. Why, did something happen?"

Harry was spared the answer for the moment when there was a knock on the door and Hermione came into the room. She was still wearing muggle clothes with her wand nowhere in sight, but then again Hermione would probably be the last person to break the restrictions on underage magic. Harry wouldn't want to go through something like his hearing last summer again, either, but nevertheless he always carried his wand around these days. Voldemort was back, and he'd rather face another hearing or even expulsion from Hogwarts than being unarmed in case of any unforeseen confrontation.

Hermione smiled broadly when she saw Harry and hurried across the room to give him a bone-crushing embrace as a greeting.

"Harry, it's so good to see you! How are you?"

"Good to see you, too, Hermione. I'm fine, though I'm glad to see the two of you. It was getting rather boring here alone after a couple of days."

Hermione stepped back a little and frowned.
"Why are you here already anyway? Ron and I thought we'd have to pester his parents for days to even make them consider asking Professor Dumbledore if you could come here."

For a moment Harry contemplated not to tell his friends about what had happened to bring him here. He didn't know why, but somehow he felt uncomfortable with their possible reactions. Especially Hermione worried enough about him without the knowledge that Sirius' death was still wearing hard on him. His hesitation caused another frown to run across Hermione's forehead, only Ron didn't notice anything out of the ordinary yet.

"I was asking him the same thing when you came in."

But Hermione didn't even look at Ron, she kept her eyes on Harry.

"Harry, is anything wrong?"

Harry scratched his head and pulled a face. No matter that he didn't want his friends to worry, he also didn't want them to be told about his attempt at potions brewing from somebody else. But telling Ron and Hermione didn't mean he wanted to make an announcement for just about everybody.

"Where is Ginny?"

"She went into the kitchen with Bill and Charlie, I believe. Why, shall I fetch her?"

Harry quickly shook his head.

"No, actually I don't want her to know. Not really. I…", he shrugged and sat down on his bed. "You'll get to know it anyway, so I can as well tell you. I asked Remus to bring me here, I didn't want to stay at Privet Drive any longer."

"Remus?", Hermione asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Professor Lupin", Harry explained.

"I know that Remus is Professor Lupin's name", Hermione huffed. "I was just wondering why you call him by his first name all of a sudden. And why did he bring you here? I can't imagine that it's been so easy to get you here, didn't Professor Dumbledore want you to stay with your relatives because it's safest there?"

"Remus asked me to stop calling him Professor. And actually it wasn't all that easy, but I think circumstances convinced Professor Dumbledore that I was not exactly happy there."

"What circumstances?"

Harry breathed in deeply before he answered. It was embarrassing enough that everybody at Grimmauld place knew what had transpired, but telling Ron and Hermione about the reasons for his stay in hospital was even worse. Especially since they would want to know the reasons for his failed attempt at potions brewing. "I was in hospital. I…I was having nightmares, and I wanted to brew a Dreamless Sleep Potion. Well, I think we can now be completely and entirely sure that I have no talent whatsoever at potions brewing. My relatives brought me to the hospital, and there I asked Remus to take me here if possible. He did."

Harry shrugged as if there was hardly anything to the story, but when he looked up he found two very shocked faces looking back at him.

"Oh, Harry", Hermione said when she finally found her voice again. "A Dreamless Sleep Potion? That's really advanced potions brewing, why didn't you just ask anybody for help? You could have seriously harmed yourself with that stuff."

Harry shrugged again. "I know that now. I really didn't want to bother anybody, and I thought that I could somehow brew that potion if Snape was not there to constantly yell at me. It didn't really work, that much you don't need to tell me."

"And for how long are you here already?"

"A bit more than two weeks. And it really got boring after a while. Everybody has got things to do except from me, so I've been sitting up here mostly, trying to get my homework finished. Or sometimes downstairs in the kitchen with Remus, when there wasn't another meeting going on."

"Speaking of kitchen", Hermione said. "I think dinner will be ready in a couple of moments. Mrs. Weasley said so when we arrived."

Ron immediately got up from where he had been sitting on his bed and went over towards the door.

"Great, I'm starved. Charlie might be the number one in mothering people, but he's an absolute failure where his cooking is concerned."

While he already vanished out of the door, Hermione looked at Harry with a concerned gaze.

"Are you all right? And if you just give me another shrug as an answer, you'll see me getting angry."

Harry immediately relaxed the muscles in his shoulders to prevent himself from shrugging again.

"I don't know, really. I'm fine, I think. Better at least, since I've been out of Privet Drive."

But Hermione just looked at him with the same expression of concern for another moment.

"Well, obviously you were having nightmares, and not just once or twice. Otherwise you would not have tried to brew a Dreamless Sleep Potion at all. What…I don't want to pry, but how…how are you…I mean, about what happened to Sirius…?"

Harry bit his lip to forcefully fight down the emotions that were threatening to spill over. If there was one thing about the whole situation he had not gotten used to yet, then it was being reminded of his godfather's death without the chance to prepare for it. He shook his head.

"Not now, Hermione."

Hermione nodded. "All right. I just…I just want you to know that I'm there if you want to talk. Ron, too, though you know how he is. He'd never say it, but he's always there for you, you know that."

"I know, thanks. But not just yet."

"Good. And now we should maybe get downstairs before Ron has finished our dinner for us."

"Sounds like a good idea. I'm starved."

They headed out of the door and down the two flights of stairs into the dark entrance hall. As silently as possible so that they would not wake up the portrait of Mrs. Black, the two of them went over towards the stairs that led into the basement kitchen. The smell of food greeted them already before they opened the door. Ron was already seated at the kitchen table, a plate with food in front of him. He did not even seem to notice that his two friends had entered the kitchen. Harry turned towards Hermione.

"Did his brothers starve him or what?"

Hermione just shook her head and went over towards the stove where Mrs. Weasley was already filling plates with meatballs and mashed potatoes for them. They both thanked her and sat down next to Ron, who still didn't pay them any mind. He looked up shortly, but quickly focussed his attention back on his food again. Harry shook his head, then decided that he should long ago have given up wondering about his best friend's relation to food, and started on his own dinner. As Ron would not be good for any kind of conversation until he had finished his dessert, Harry turned his attention towards the other people in the room. Aside from Harry and his friends, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Bill and Charlie there was only Remus in the kitchen with them. He was listlessly picking around on his own plate while he listened to whatever story Bill was currently telling. Though he only seemed to follow it half-heartedly, Harry realized. Once more, Harry could not help but worry about what exactly was going on with his former teacher. This was definitely not how Remus had behaved at any point during the time he had known him. True, he had never really spent much time with him before the last summer, but still Harry thought this kind of behaviour slightly unusual for the otherwise so attentive man.

After they had finished their dinner, Harry, Ron and Hermione carried their empty plates over towards the sink where Mrs. Weasley put a cleansing charm on them. Harry noticed that Remus had not eaten very much of his dinner, but had rather vanished the remaining half with a vanishing spell. He shook his head, but before he could even contemplate asking somebody if they knew what was wrong with Remus, Ron's voice interrupted his thoughts.

"Isn't there any dessert?"

Harry and Hermione synchronously turned their heads towards their friend, and from the table Charlie, Bill and Remus were chuckling loudly. Mrs. Weasley on the other hand didn't seem to find that remark very funny.

"You have just eaten enough for two people of your age, I should think you can go without dessert for a day or two."

Ron mumbled something about being in the middle of a growth spurt, but seemed to know that he had lost this particular battle against his mother. The three of them sat down on the table again.

"Do you already have any plans for this evening?"

Harry first looked at Ron and Hermione, then at Remus who had posed the question. He shook his head.

"Not really. Catching up for a bit, I think."

"Recovering from the dictatorship of Charlie and Bill", Ron added. That earned him a swat to the back of his head from Charlie who was just walking past the table behind him.

"Ouch, that hurt!"

"You're not made of glass. And you've just stuffed your head with about a ton of food, that should cushion the impact."

Ron huffed in exasperation.

"I mean, you were not exactly applying for the title of parent of the year, you know? That was a dictatorship you were trying to build up."

Bill just shook his head and took another sip of his coffee. "You're just angry that we didn't allow you to help the twins in their store."

"And right you were!", Mrs. Weasley added from where she was putting away the dishes. "It's bad enough that the two of them are wasting their time with that dangerous stuff, they should not try to involve any of their siblings in it."

"Would have been more fun that sitting at home listening to Bill and Charlie's lectures all day."

Bill and Charlie wisely decided not to comment on that remark, and Harry was glad for it. If they started bickering know, Merlin only knew when they would stop again. Remus, however, seemed to find the remark about Fred and George's joke shop highly amusing. The first real smile Harry had seen from him in days showed on his face and he quickly turned his head away so that Mrs. Weasley would not see it. Harry could imagine very well that his former teacher liked the idea of the twins' joke shop. Though Harry had never seen it in him, he must have been a prankster just like his father and Sirius once had been. Harry forced himself to stop that line of thought before his mood worsened again. It was good to see Remus smile again, but it definitely was not good to think about Sirius now.

The best thing might be to take his own words to heart and occupy his thoughts with catching up with his friends. It had not been that long that he had not seen Ron and Hermione, but still there surely were things to talk about for them.

They remained sitting in the kitchen even after they had finished dinner, Remus had gone upstairs again and Mrs. Weasley had cleared away the dishes. Ron had eventually given up all hopes for dessert and had settled on drinking of the hot chocolate Mrs. Weasley made them. Indeed Harry had been right with his assumption, not all that much had happened since he and his friends had parted ways four weeks ago. Hermione had arrived at the Burrow the day before yesterday, and probably she would go on another vacation with her parents towards the end of the holidays.

"They say they're not seeing me often enough lately", she said. "Of course they understand it when I stay at school during the holidays if I have to learn, but still they say they want to spend a bit more time with me. But they'll send an owl in a week or so, I wanted to be here for your birthday."

She smiled brilliantly at Harry. "You'll have the first real birthday party this year, isn't that great?"

Harry hadn't given the issue much thought, but now that Hermione mentioned it, he had to admit that he didn't immediately feel enthusiastic about the idea. A few weeks ago maybe, but he definitely didn't feel in the mood for celebrating now.

"Yeah, sounds great. Though I haven't really planned anything. I don't know, we'll see."

But Hermione was not to be stopped in her excitement.

"I think that a party is a wonderful idea. I mean with the people you know from the Order, as I think it should be difficult to get your other friends here without giving away too much about the Order. But still, if we involve the twins we should be able to make a great party out of it."

Ron grinned widely. "I bet that together with Sirius the twins would have thrown the most amazing birthday party for you! But even on their own they should manage."

Ron didn't realize how Harry's expression darkened at those words or how Hermione threw her most deadly glare into his direction. His attention was distracted from his friends as Mrs. Weasley harrumphed loudly at his words.

"I bet they would have, and it's good that this won't happen. It's bad enough that your brothers have to engage in all this joke-business, no matter how successful they might be at the moment. They didn't need somebody who even encouraged that, life is too serious to see it as a constant joke. At a certain age people should realize that, or they get what's coming at them!"

The remark was clearly aimed at Sirius, and Harry felt his anger swell immediately. Why did Mrs. Weasley have to say those things over and over again, even now that Sirius was dead? He quickly downed his hot chocolate, put it on the kitchen counter and turned towards the door.

"I'm tired, I think I'll call it a night."

Hermione threw him a concerned glance, but Harry shook his head. He didn't want to talk about it now. Ron seemed to be blissfully ignorant of Harry's sudden change of mood. Harry quickly went up the stairs and into the bedroom he shared with Ron. He only hoped that Ron would stay in the kitchen for a bit longer, he didn't really fancy company at the moment.

Five minutes later, though, there was a knock on his door. It wasn't Ron, he would not have knocked, but still it was somebody who had come to disturb Harry's brooding. And he didn't know if he wanted that.

"Come in."

The door opened, and much to his surprise it was not Hermione or Mrs. Weasley who came into the room, but Bill. The oldest Weasley brother came into the room and closed the door behind himself. Harry remained sitting on the bed, puzzled as to what Bill wanted of him.

"You vanished rather quickly just now", Bill said and sat down on the foot end of the bed. Harry shrugged.

"I wasn't in the mood for staying."

"Because of what Mum said?"

Again, Harry shrugged and leaned back against the headboard.

"I just don't like it when people talk about Sirius like that. And your Mum does it rather often."

Bill sighed and ran his hand through his hair, messing up his ponytail and refastening it again.

"Don't take it personally, Harry. It has nothing to do with you, and I'm sure she doesn't know you take it to heart so much, otherwise she'd watch what she's saying."

"Can I ask you something?"

Bill nodded.

"Sure."

"What is it that made your Mom so angry with Sirius? Nobody tells me."

Bill sighed and leaned back against the bed. Unconsciously, he ran his hand through his hair again and loosened some more strands of hair from the ponytail.

"Why do you want to know?"

Harry shrugged.

"I don't know. I…I always liked your mum. I mean, she did a lot for me, and not because I was Harry Potter or something, but simply because she cared for me. I didn't have that ever before, and I'm really thankful for it. But I can't help the feeling that she didn't like Sirius. She and he were fighting a lot last year, and now that Sirius is…now that he is dead, I don't know what to think of it. She doesn't care about him and…and it hurts. I overheard Remus talking to her, and your Mum said something about your Dad and you, and that it was Sirius' fault that something happened to you."

"I see", Bill said and stretched out his legs more comfortably. His earring sparkled in the light as he shifted around.

"Harry, Mum cares for you, very deeply. As far as she is concerned, you are an honourable Weasley already and nothing can change that. Every long-lost godfather who suddenly reappeared would have a hard time with her. She had the feeling that he was intruding in her territory when he suddenly appeared and wanted to take care of you. She sees that as her task, because she has done so when there was still nobody else around who could take that position for you."

"I know, and I don't want to say that I'm not thankful for what she did for me. I really am. I didn't know Sirius very well, but from all that I heard I knew he was not always easy to get along with, but there is more to the story, isn't there?"

"Yes, there is. You see, Mum and Sirius were just too different from each other to ever agree on something. They would not have met under normal circumstances though they're distantly related, but they were in the Order of the Phoenix during the first war. And there they collided, more often than would have been good. I was eleven or twelve years old at that time, Mum and Dad didn't want me involved in anything, but with five children and the war raging around them they could not keep me out of everything. Mum and Sirius clashed a couple of times back then already. And they clashed hard, no small wonder with two so hot tempers as theirs. He was the reckless young Auror who was willing to risk nearly everything in order to win the war, to fight for what he considered good. And Mum was constantly worried about Dad and us, about the possible future, and she could not understand how Sirius was not concerned about safety all that much. It just didn't work between them. And then one of Sirius' plans backfired, that was the point where it cracked completely between them."

"What happened?", Harry asked.

"Don't ask me for the details, I was never told. But basically Sirius had planned a trap for the Lestranges in one of the safe-houses the Order regularly used. Catching Bellatrix and Rudolphus was something of a personal vendetta for Sirius."

"Because she is his cousin", Harry supplied. Bill nodded.

"Exactly. It was as if he needed to prove himself by catching her and her husband. As if he needed to prove himself that the only relation he had with them were distant blood ties, and nothing else. That he was different than them, that he stood on the other side during this war. Remus once told me that, I didn't know Sirius well enough to understand his reasons back then. Sirius' family was constantly haunting him, his life was one big attempt to get away from what the name 'Black' meant to most people. It seemed to border on an obsession for him, and my mother more than once accused him that he was endangering others with his plans. She thought that he was so blinded by his family issues that he'd get one of us killed by accident. But he never listened, especially not with how strained their relationship was, anyway.

But to come back to the topic, Sirius told Mad Eye about his plan to trap the Lestranges. Mad Eye supported Sirius' idea and they set the plan in motion. The only problem was that nobody told my Dad about it. Actually, it was not a necessity to inform him, he was not usually using the safe-houses for anything, if at all then he was at our headquarters that time.

But that day Dad caught me sneaking around headquarters – it wasn't Grimmauld Place back then, it was a much smaller house. I had been supposed to stay with Charlie, Percy and the twins, but I didn't. I wanted to know what was going on, thought I could help the adults. I was only twelve or so, but I thought I had it in me to save the world."

Bill laughed mirthlessly. "It seems strange to say that to you of all people, sorry. But that was how I felt back then. I knew a bit of magic from my first year of Hogwarts and thought it was enough to help the adults. Only, nobody ever told me anything. Well, Dad caught me as I was just about to stick my nose into confidential papers. He wanted to give me a good telling off about it, but he didn't want to do it in front of Mum – I think he didn't want me to get into just that much trouble as she would have given me. And as there was no way for him to do so in headquarters, he packed me up and flooed me to one of the safe-houses which he thought empty."

"The one where Sirius had planned on trapping the Lestranges."

Bill nodded, a crooked grin on his face.

"Yes. And he had a very good sense of timing. We landed there too late to betray the trap but also way before the danger was over. We actually landed in the middle of flying curses and caused quite an uproar. It's a small wonder that nobody got hurt, and looking back at it I know why Mum freaked so much. It was ridiculously dangerous what we slid into. I didn't understand it back then, but desperation was at its peak. Order plans were betrayed more often than they actually worked out, and a well-laid trap for Bellatrix Lestrange and her husband suddenly became a battle between eight Order members and about fifteen Death Eaters, and Dad and me right in the middle of it. I don't remember anything clearly, but it must have been pandemonium with everybody just trying to get out before the Death Eaters overwhelmed us. The next thing I remember clearly is being back at headquarters with Dad standing pale and shaking next to me. There was no way we could keep what happened from Mum, and as the trap had been Sirius' plan it was painfully obvious whom she'd blame for what nearly happened. Dad and I never blamed anybody for it, especially not Sirius. If anybody, we should have blamed Dung because it had been his job to inform us not to use the safe-house. He didn't because he thought we never used it, anyway.

But Mum was angry when she heard about it, and she placed the blame on Sirius. Maybe she somehow wanted to blame him, at least a bit. It ended with both of them yelling at each other and my Dad and your father trying to step in between and to pull them apart. That was the final braking point, after that Mum never warmed up with Sirius again. She accused him of being too careless, that he only thought about himself and his own success and that he was willing to sacrifice us all for his own fame.

I don't know how she thought about his imprisonment, I don't know if she really thought he was guilty. But then again, nobody really thought all that much about whether what the Ministry told us what happened was true. I think when Sirius suddenly came into your life again she was afraid that he would take up her position. Or that he would endanger you. Probably a bit of both."

Harry nodded, not really knowing what to make of all that. Bill got up from the bed.

"Don't be angry with her, Harry. Mum cares deeply for you, and even if she was not always right with what she did or said, it only happened because she wants the best for you. After all, you're part of the family."

He smiled at Harry and turned towards the door.

"Thank you, Bill."

"You're welcome. Just don't brood too much about it."

Harry nodded. "I'll try."

But as Bill left the room and went downstairs again, Harry could not chase away the thoughts about what he had just been told, at least not immediately. Of course it explained why Mrs. Weasley and Sirius hadn't gotten along, but that didn't make any of what she had said better. Ron's mother was not being fair, and Harry didn't know what to make of it. And about that he'd probably keep on brooding for a bit longer.