Chapter 17 – An Early Return

The next morning, Harry felt peacefully tired and rather comfortable in his bed. That feeling lasted about two minutes, until he finally woke up enough to remember the events of the previous night. From that moment on, further sleep was entirely out of question for him, so he quickly got out of bed and padded into the bathroom. If he didn't think about what he had seen, then he'd not have to face it as being real. He knew exactly that this would work for a few hours at best, but maybe something else would distract him until then. So he took a long, hot shower, brushed his teeth and even made a hopeless attempt at combing his hair before he went back into his bedroom and dressed. Ron was still lying on the bed, deeply asleep. Mrs. Weasley would surely wake him soon enough, and Harry was a bit curious as to what had happened here at headquarters throughout the night, so he decided to let Ron sleep and went down on his own. Everybody always met in the kitchen, so Harry hoped that he'd get some news there.

He was a bit disappointed to find the kitchen rather empty. He had expected some sort of meeting to be going on there, or people coming and going on their various missions, stopping by only to grab a bite to eat while they reported what they had found out, but everything seemed scarily normal. Mrs. Weasley was standing behind the stove, stirring in a pot of porridge. There was no trace of Dumbledore, Dung or anybody who worked in the Ministry. Only Bill and Remus were sitting at the kitchen table, empty breakfast plates in front of them. Remus was engrossed in the morning paper, but he seemingly had surrendered the sports section to Bill. There was absolutely nothing hinting at the fact that only last night they had talked about two murders here in that room, or that anybody here was concerned with the aftermath of those murders, and that thought unsettled Harry extremely. He quickly closed the door behind himself and went over towards the table.

"Morning."

Mrs. Weasley turned around and smiled at Harry.

"Good morning, Harry dear. What do you want for breakfast? Shall I make you some toast, or maybe eggs"

"No thank you, Mrs. Weasley. Porridge is fine."

Mrs. Weasley filled a plate and handed it to Harry. As he sat down at the kitchen table with his porridge and tea, Remus and Bill both nodded him good morning. But he didn't want to waste any time with pleasantries and the pretence that nothing had happened last night.

"Are there any news"

Remus folded his paper and put it away. Bill, too, tore his attention away from the Cannon's latest defeat and listened to the conversation that was about to start. Remus smiled sadly and shook his head.
"Nothing that I know of."

Harry frowned. "Why not? What happened"

Remus shrugged. "As I said, nothing. We only know what we did last night, namely that the Bransons were killed. Albus and Dung both left shortly after you went to bed, and so far there has not been word from any of them. Tonks dropped by early this morning, but she didn't know anything aside from the fact that Janus and his partner at the DMLE are in charge of the investigation and that Moody is there, trying to find out what happened. She assumed that Kingsley is there as well, and Albus went to talk to the Minister first thing this morning. That is all I can tell you for now."

Harry nodded and swallowed down his porridge. "But why"

"Why what? Why the attack? Why on the Bransons? Why now"

Harry nodded. "All of that, I think."

Remus sighed.

"I don't know. So far, we can only guess. Mind you, there has been no confirmation whatsoever that it has been a Death Eater attack. Though your dream strongly suggests that it has something to do with Voldemort." He paused and shook a head at the hissing intake of air that Mrs. Weasley took. "It might take some more time until we know what to think about last night's events. And we'll have to see if it was a singular attack, or the start of something bigger."

That was a frightening thought Harry had not allowed himself to think as of yet. What if that was the beginning of the war they all had feared, dreaded and yet anticipated? What would come next, what would happen to the Order, what would the Ministry do, and how would that affect life at Hogwarts?

From the corner of his eyes, Harry noticed how Mrs. Weasley extinguished the fire under the pot with the porridge and left the kitchen, Bill following suit. It wasn't unusual or strange, but as Harry looked up and into Remus' face he found that maybe it had been prearranged to leave him alone in the kitchen with his former teacher. Because Remus was looking serious.

"Harry, we need to talk."

"Has something else happened"

Remus quickly shook his head. "No, nothing else has happened. But before he left last night, Albus and I had a little talk. He said – and I have to agree with him – that if this is the start of a bigger chain of events, then you are no longer safe at Grimmauld Place."

A leaden feeling of dread settled in Harry's stomach.

"What is that supposed to mean"

"Harry, I want you to go upstairs and pack your things together."

It took a moment until the meaning of those words sunk in, but then Harry could not react fast enough.

"What" he said, drawing himself up to full height.

"Please pack your things together."

"No, I won't. Why should I"

Remus raised an eyebrow and turned slightly so that he was fully facing Harry. He seemed to be aware of the teenager's sense of resistance, but instead of saying anything he calmly crossed his arms in front of his chest and looked at Harry.

"I will explain, but we don't have much time. Please pack your things first."

Harry shook his head. "No. I won't leave Grimmauld Place now, just because Professor Dumbledore says I have to."

"Professor Dumbledore agreed to let you stay here under certain conditions when I took you from hospital, and now it's no longer safe for you here."

"I'm fed up with other people deciding about my life! Why does nobody ever ask what I want? I don't particularly like being tossed around like a punching-ball, and I certainly won't go back to my aunt and uncle just because you and Professor Dumbledore have come to the conclusion that I'm in the way all of a sudden! You can't make me go if I don't want to, and I won't go. Period"

Faced with the full intensity of Harry's teenage-wrath, Remus was rendered silent for a moment. He slowly shook his head, then gestured towards Harry's vacated chair.

"Sit down Harry."

Harry glared defiantly and shook his head, so Remus merely sighed and leaned back in his chair.

"All right, remain standing if you like. I think we need to clear a few things up. I know that you are fed up with other people deciding for you, I can sympathize with that, but at the moment it cannot be changed. So please listen to me for a moment. When I took you out of the hospital and brought you here, Professor Dumbledore wanted to send you back to your relatives after talking to you about what had happened. Not because anybody overly likes pushing you around, but because that is where you are safest. Physically safest. You might not like the idea, I can tell you that neither do I, but it's a fact. And though Grimmauld Place is relatively safe, it's not nearly safe enough for you to be here compared to Little Whinging. But I argued against the idea of sending you back to your relatives, and in the end Professor Dumbledore gave in and agreed to let you stay here. Under certain conditions. One condition was that you'd not be left alone here under no circumstances, meaning that there had always to be someone around to look after you, and to be there in case something unforeseen happened. And the second condition was that if something happened that required the attention of the Order members entirely, so that your wellbeing as well as your safety could no longer be guaranteed, you'd have to leave Grimmauld Place. To Hogwarts. That is what Dumbledore reminded me of last night, and I have to agree with what he said. Everybody here already has more work at their hands than they can deal with, if last night was the start of the war and it progresses from there on, nobody can guarantee for how long Grimmauld Place will be safe. That is different with Hogwarts, Voldemort won't be able to breach its defences anywhere in the near future. The other reason why you have to leave is that nobody here can teach you anything about Occlumency. You were having another of those dreams, and that makes it paramount to teach you how to guard your mind."

"Because I know about headquarters, and who some of the Order members are."

Remus nodded slightly. "Also because of that, yes. But mainly so that you are safe from Voldemort for as long as you can be. And so that something like Sirius' death won't happen again."

Remus had said the last part very lowly, and there was no trace of accusation in his voice. Harry understood that his former teacher didn't want to place any blame on him for his godfather's death with his words, yet he had to struggle hard to suppress the tears at again being reminded of Sirius' death. If he had acted differently back then, then it would not have happened, nothing anybody said could convince Harry otherwise.

Harry bit his lip and nodded. "I'm sorry."

Remus rubbed the back of his right hand absent-mindly and tried to smile at Harry.

"It's all right, nothing to be sorry for. I should have told you earlier that nobody wanted to send you back to your relatives. But at the moment staying here simply is no alternative for you, and I think you'd rather be at Hogwarts than with your aunt and uncle. I promised Albus to keep you safe, and that's what I'll do. I haven't spoken to Arthur or Molly yet, but I'm sure that Ron will come with us to Hogwarts, or at least that he'll come after us."

Harry frowned at those words. "Us? You're coming with me to Hogwarts"
Remus nodded. "Sure. I promised Albus that I'd personally take care that you are safe, and so I will. Besides, you might be glad to have some company. Hogwarts is rather empty during the summer, aside from Severus there's only Professor Trelawney there for the entire holiday."

Harry pulled a face. "I don't know what's worse, holiday with my aunt and uncle or with those two."

A fleeting smile stole across Remus' face. "It'll definitely be a change, though as you might know, Sybil hardly ever leaves her tower."

"Yes", Harry said, pushing his chair back a little. "It disturbs her vibrations, as far as I know, though I can't say I'm overly sad about it. No more Divination for me if possible."

"We'll have a look at your schedule possibilities once your O.W.L. results are out. Shall we go upstairs and you pack your things"

Harry nodded and got up from his chair. They climbed the stairs in silence, and while Remus went into his room to get his things, Harry walked down the corridor and opened the door to his own room. Ron seemingly had finally gotten up, his bed was still rumpled but empty. Mrs. Weasley must have woken him, there was a stack of freshly laundered clothes on Harry's bed that suggested that Ron's mother had been in here since he had gotten up. Packing his things into his trunk was a rather quick affair, aside from the clothes there were only his parchments and books which lay on the small table beside the window. After packing those, he carefully wrapped the framed picture of Sirius and himself into a clean shirt and put it on top of all his other things. Just as he closed the lid of his trunk, Ron came into the room.

"You're packing your things? Why"

"Remus is taking me to Hogwarts. He and Professor Dumbledore don't think I'll still be safe here if last night was not the only thing that'll happen."

"I'm coming with you", was Ron's immediate response. Harry shrugged.

"Remus said he had not talked to your parents yet. I don't know why, but he's in quite a hurry to leave. Just talk to your parents, I'm sure they'll let you come after us."

Ron didn't look as if he liked that idea, but before he could say anything else Remus knocked on the door and entered the room.

"Ready to leave, or is there anything else you need to take with you"

Harry dragged his trunk off the bed and shook his head.

"No, I've finished packing. But why do we have to leave so quickly"

Remus shrugged. "Probably it's just unnecessary precaution, but one can never be sure enough. If this was no single attack but the start of the war, then it'll be pandemonium here by this evening. It already is, at least halfway, though it doesn't look like it yet. And both Albus and I will only let that happen with a good conscience if we know that you are safe."

"Also because then you won't have to worry about me in the back of your mind."

Like Remus earlier, there was no accusation in Harry's voice, it was merely a statement and Remus nodded.

"That's true, yes. Some things we simply have to make sure of so that we don't have to worry about them anymore and can focus on the task at hand."

"Okay, but why does it have to be Professor Snape? Can't you teach me Occlumency"

Remus laughed. "No, I'm afraid not. Occlumency as a skill has never been my forte. It is difficult to master with a somewhat split mind like mine, you know"

Harry smiled awkwardly. "I thought it was worth a try."

"It definitely was, but I can't help you. Of all the people I know, only Albus and Severus are both skilled and trained enough to help you master it, so you'll have to accept that it has to be Severus."

"Does he know about that? Because I think he doesn't want to teach me anymore after I stuck my head in his pensieve last year."

"Well, it was a foolish thing to do, but I think Albus will have a word with him about it. I can't tell you what to do, but it might be wise to apologize for what you did in case you haven't done so. It might not change anything about Severus' behaviour, but it shows your good will in any case. It is important that you learn it, surely he'll see the need as well as we do. And now we should go, I'll just get my things."

He and Harry said goodbye to Ron, then Remus levitated Harry's trunk out of the room and down the corridor, where he picked up his own suitcase and started descending the stairs. He deposited the trunk and his own suitcase in front of the fireplace and took down the pot with floo-powder.

"We're flooing to Professor Dumbledore's office. The password is Nimble-Wimble. You take Hedwig's cage, I'll follow with the rest."

Harry nodded and grabbed a handful of floo-powder, Hedwig's empty owl-cage in his left hand. He threw the powder into the flames, shouted out the password, and was on his way to Hogwarts past spinning fireplaces.

He arrived at Hogwarts in a could of dust and ashes in Dumbledore's office. Of course fireplaces were meant to be filled with ashes and soot, but still Harry asked himself why on earth wizards chose to travel that way if one always looked like a chimney sweeper afterwards. But then again most wizards could easily get rid of that problem with one quick wave of their wand. Harry was immensely grateful when Remus did just that and quickly cleaned the remnants of their travel from him. Dumbledore was already there, greeting them.

"Ah, there you are. Welcome Harry."

"Hello sir."

"You've got everything? Good. I haven't had the chance to talk to Molly and Arthur yet, but I'm sure they'll agree to send Ron over sooner or later. Now, it would be easiest if you simply settled in your dormitory already."

"Okay." Harry nodded and picked up Hedwig's cage again.

"Now Remus, you can either settle in one of the guest-suites, or maybe if you want to reminisce a bit in your youth, you might want to keep Harry company. Gryffindor tower has quite a number of empty dormitories at the moment."

A smile settled on Remus' face. "It might be a nice change, that's true."

Dumbledore's eyes sparkled behind his half-moon glasses. "I thought as much. The password for the holidays is Gillyweed. I'll see you at dinner, then."

Remus pointed his wand at Harry's trunk and levitated it over towards the door, his own suitcase in his hand, Harry following suit. They walked down corridors and staircases until they reached the portrait o the Fat Lady which covered the entrance to Gryffindor tower. The Fat Lady was currently busy doing her hair, but upon seeing Harry and Remus she let go off the brush and smiled at them.

"Ah, visitors in the summer holidays, how unusual. Mr. Potter, that is a surprise…and Mr. Lupin! It's such a pleasure to see you again. It has been far too long."

Remus smiled and bowed slightly. "Milady, the pleasure is all mine."

The fat lady blushed vividly and fanned herself. "It's…really a pleasure to have you here, I can only repeat that. Do you have the password, my dears"

"Gillyweed", Harry said to cover up his giggles over the Fat Lady's behaviour. The portrait swung aside and Harry and Remus entered the common room. Harry flung himself into one of the armchairs, and as soon as the portrait swung shut he started to laugh.

"What in Merlin's name was that"

Remus put down the trunk, smiling broadly, and sat down on the sofa in front of the fireplace.

"Your father, Sirius and I have found over the years that the Fat Lady is a good friend and ally to have. Just imagine that you need to get back to your dormitory unseen, Filch's cat or Filch himself is chasing you and you have to struggle with remaining hid under an Invisibility cloak. It is a tad bit difficult to get past the portrait if she doesn't know whom the disembodied voice belongs to. But she always knew when we went marauding, and more than once she saved our neck by letting us slip past without much noise or lengthy explanations. Truth be told, she was a bit smitten with your father."

Harry's eyes widened. "With my Dad? But…I mean, she's a bloody portrait"

Remus laughed. "Yes, a portrait your father practiced his charms on regularly, and I don't mean the ones Professor Flitwick teaches you. James could be a very charming guy, and the Fat Lady seemingly had a soft spot for him. Helped us immensely at times."

He fell silent and let his eyes wander around the room for some long moments, eyes distant and clearly not in the present with his thoughts. Harry didn't dare to disturb whatever Remus was thinking about, so he silently waited until Remus shook his head and got up from the sofa.

"It's strange to be back in here. It's been years since I last saw those rooms, but hardly anything has changed. It looks just like it has back then, just as if your Dad or Sirius might come pounding down the stairs any minute now."

He shook his head again to ward off those thoughts and reached for Harry's trunk again.

"Better get that upstairs, how about that"

Harry nodded and followed with the owl-cage.

"You haven't been here since you were a student yourself"

Remus shook his head as he climbed the spiral staircase.

"No, I haven't. Only in front of the Common room, the night Sirius tried to break in here while I was teaching here. But I've not been in here since my last day as a seventh year student. Now, which of the dormitories is yours"

Harry pointed him towards the door of the dormitory he had shared with his classmates for the past five years. Remus followed him inside and put the trunk down on the foot-end of the bed Harry indicated.

"That was the dormitory of the year below ours", Remus said with a hint of nostalgia in his voice.

"Which one was yours"

As an answer, Remus went back into the corridor and turned left into the dormitory which would belong to the seventh-years next term. Remus slowly stepped into the room and breathed in deeply, then he let his eyes stray over the five beds that stood in the room.

"We were only four Gryffindor boys in our year. Just the four of us. That one was Peter's", he gestured toward the bed near the door. "The next one was your father's, Sirius' was the one under the window and mine was this one. Aside from the fifth bed, it hasn't changed overly much in here either."

Remus made move to put his cloak onto his former bed, then stopped in mid-movement as if contemplating whether this was really a good idea. After a moment he put the cloak down on the bed and nodded.

"Not much in here has changed. Only the remaining world, but in here you could nearly forget that."

Harry understood what Remus meant. The room might still look like it had when Remus had lived here as a student, but everything else had changed. Remus was the only former inhabitant left, Peter Pettigrew had chosen to live as Wormtail in the service of the Dark Lord, after he had betrayed the friends he had shared his youth with. And his father and Sirius were dead now, leaving Remus the sole survivor. Somehow, Harry could understand that Remus was despairing with the momentary situation. If he imagined losing all his friends that way, he didn't know if he'd still be able to see the sense as well.

After a moment of contemplation, seemingly as if he was thinking whether he was making the right choice, Remus summoned his suitcase from the common room, placed it at the foot-end of the bed, substituting for the trunk which was normally placed there. His eyes strayed around the room for another moment, not really focussed but rather taking in all the small details he remembered from his time at school, then he nodded as if the decision he had made was a good one.

"Right. Now, how about you start unpacking your things while I go down into the dungeons and talk to Severus about your Occlumency lessons. Probably Albus did that already, but better make sure."

"Shouldn't I go with you? After all, they're my lessons, and after I stuck my head into his pensieve…well. And I haven't thanked him yet for coming to the hospital to help me."

Remus shook his head. "No, I doubt that would be a wise idea. And there is still something I need to settle with Severus which I didn't have the chance to do as of yet. You will get your chance of talking to him soon enough, but better let me have a look at what's expecting you first."

"If you think so."

Harry didn't' seem convinced, but he nodded nevertheless and went back into his own dormitory while Remus descended the spiral staircase and left the common room. Ten minutes later he found himself in front of Snape's office, but he didn't feel any wiser. He had told Harry the truth, there was still something he needed to settle between Snape and himself. During the pandemonium of the past days he had not forgotten that the last time he had seen his former classmate, he had been close to breaking Snape's jaw. Remus had no intention of apologizing to him, though. He and Snape had been walking a very thin line between aversion and silent tolerance for years now, and both of them knew that Snape had overstepped a line with what he had said that evening. Especially with saying it in front of everybody else in the kitchen. Remus was sorry that he had resorted to physical violence in the end, but only because it was something he had always tried to prevent. He didn't like to lose control of himself like that, and he would do anything to prevent it from happening again. But with their current arrangement, they would have to settle for a truce at least, otherwise the next weeks would be pure hell.

The many thoughts, doubts and questions in his mind caused another headache to rise, and Remus quickly tried to push them aside. He was still not as well as he would have liked, sometimes he felt even worse than he had done during the days before his collapse, but that would surely change again if only enough time passed. He simply needed to give his body more time to heal. Remus took another deep breath, rubbed the back of his right hand and then rose the left to knock on the door. For a moment there was no answer, then a tight and cold voice shortly said "Enter" from inside. Remus opened the door and stepped inside.

Snape was sitting behind his desk, and seeing the dark gloom of the office around him and the strange shapes which floated in the glass jars on the shelves, Remus got a good impression of what a student who was due for detention had to feel. Had he not known Snape for such a long time already, the whole scenario might have sent shivers up and down his spine. Snape was reading in a roll of parchment which lay on the desk in front of him, but as Remus entered he looked up to see who had come. Upon seeing that it was Remus, his eyes narrowed and he looked down on the parchment again.

"Leave", was all he said, his voice just as cold and tight as before. Remus shook his head and stepped up to the desk.

"Good afternoon, Severus."

"Lupin, I told you to leave."

"We have to talk", Remus simply said, but he made no movement to sit down on one of the chairs in front of the desk. Snape angrily cast the parchment aside so that it rolled of the desk and rose to his feet, glaring angrily at Remus from behind the desk.

"Doesn't the thought that I don't want to talk to you go into your stubborn head? I most certainly won't have any kind of conversation with you after what happened the last time"

Remus calmly shook his head. "If you're expecting an apology, you're not going to get it. Just like I don't expect receiving an apology from you for what you said. What's done is done, and though I'm most certainly not proud on the fact that I resorted to means of physical violence, you know that you had no right to say what you did. And anyway, this is not what I came to talk about."

Snape rose an eyebrow and leaned back against the wall, arms crossed defiantly in front of his chest.

"Oh, and what did you come to talk about? I'm just dying to know."

"Harry."

Snape swiftly uncrossed his arms and stepped in front of the desk so that he was standing right in front of Remus. He was a tall man, but Remus was not all that much shorter, and facing as they were now both men were nearly at eye-level.

"Dumbledore already told me about Potter's newest problem, and the answer is no. Now leave."

Remus stared back into those furious coal-black eyes, unblinking. "Harry needs lessons in Occlumency, Severus."

"Then you ought to start searching for somebody who will give them to him. I won't. I tried to last year, and even while I was still trying to teach him, he was not at all working with me. He didn't practice anything I taught him, he merely struggled to get through with the lessons so that he could go back to his friends again. That might not have stopped me from trying to teach him, but the moment he stuck his head in my Pensieve, he crossed a line. It has its reasons why I removed certain memories before the lessons, and just because Potter can't control his curiosity I'm not obliged to continue teaching that obnoxious brat"

"He made a mistake, Severus. A serious mistake, I won't deny that. I'm not trying to justify what he has done, certainly not. He should not have done what he did, and I think plenty of people have already told him that. And he understands it. But no matter your personal feelings on that subject, Harry needs those lessons now. I don't have the talent, and Albus can't afford the time. There is no other person I know who is skilled enough to teach him."

Snape shook his head and leaned back against the desk. "You certainly won't goad me into teaching him by telling me what a skilled Occlumencer I am."

"I did not try to at all. I know very well that you are aware of your skills and deficits, and you as well as I know that you're the best suited person for the task. I was not trying to goad you, I was trying to point out that nobody else is there who could do it."

"Why is that my problem, Lupin? Am I on the rota to save The Boy Who Lived again? I'd rather not be, considering what he did to Black when it was his turn. And he liked the man, out of my understanding as that might be. Just imagine how someone Potter doesn't hold in good graces might end up."

"Stop it, Severus", Remus said sharply. "I will not allow you to talk about Sirius' death like that, and I won't let you place the blame for it on Harry alone. Especially since you didn't seem to care about Sirius' death at all, so you don't have the right to say anything about it."

A grin curled over Snape's face as if he was enjoying the situation immensely all of a sudden. Remus imagined that he did, now that he had found a weak spot he could poke and prod. But he was not doing this here for fun, he was doing it for Harry. So he needed to convince Snape of giving Harry the lessons he needed, and for that he needed to calm himself. "Harry is having dreams again."

"Give him a Dreamless Sleep Potion. Though maybe not one he himself tried to brew."

Remus breathed in deeply and sank down in one of the chairs in front of Snape's desk.

"Severus, I know that you don't like Harry. Nobody forces you to. But you as well as I will see the need to protect him from Voldemort for the time being. For as long as we can. Don't you"

Snape didn't move, but he made a grunting sound that Remus decided to see as reluctant acknowledgement. Enough for him to continue.

"We can hide him out at Grimmauld Place or here at Hogwarts for all we like, it's entirely senseless if he can't keep Voldemort out of his head. He needs to learn to shield his thoughts, for real this time. It probably was his fault that he didn't master Occlumency last year, and I will most certainly make him aware of how important it is for him to learn it now, but first and foremost he'll need a teacher."

Snape stared at Remus for a long moment, the only movement being the slow working of his lower jaw. He definitely didn't like what he was hearing, and most probably he also didn't like the conclusions his contemplations were offering him. After a few minutes, he turned and picked up the parchment which had fallen to the floor earlier.

"Every night at eight, if I have the time. Otherwise I'll let him know on short notice. And you would do well to advice him to cooperate this time. Otherwise this will be over quickly. We will start tonight. And now leave me to do my work."

"Thank you, Severus", Remus said, but Snape didn't turn around or acknowledge him in any way. Remus got up and left the office, breathing a sigh as he close the door behind himself. He would surely implant the importance of this into Harry's skull, especially after the struggle it had been to convince Snape just now.