I want to apologise for my delay, but it simply wasn't possible to update sooner. And please don't forget that Harry still doesn't know who the letter is from.

Looks like I got enough reviews (I must have really low standards, cause I only got 3...). Thanks a BUNCH to:

Sheen Rox: Thanks, you're the best!!! Love ya! And I want to apologise again for my crazy review for your story, honestly, I meant no harm. begs for pardon once again

f: Yes, of course I'll finish it, but I don't really know what you wanted with your 2-words-review. But, if you're just a cold heartless person that for some reason has a problem with my fic and wants to flame me, that's fine too, I don't really care what people like you, who only write one single letter as nickname, think, anyway.

mellowyellow36: Just let me explain. Cho lied about this because she feared that Harry would find out that it was she who had written the letter. It would have been easy to guess if she just wrote something like I know exactly what it feels like to loose somebody, I recently lost my boyfriend because old Voldie killed him and you survived. And why doesn't she want him to know? You'll find out in chapter 3. And I did read GoF. Anyway, keep reading and reviewing!

And my special thanks goes to April Black for her wonderful extra-information (this chapter is revised now...), and to Sheen Rox and Break Dancist for doing beta-reading again ... I'm so sorry, I'm an idiot, Microsoft Word is idiotic too, you will see why ...

Disclaimer: Celina Pryce is mine, mine, mine!!! (The rest belongs to J.K.R.)

Anyway, I've talked enough. Enjoy!

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Letters to Him

Chapter 2

A Little Bit of Leisure Time

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"Harry, what does take you such a long time?" Uncle Vernon shouted. He was sitting in the dining room with Dudley, waiting for his luch.

"I'm coming, Uncle Vernon," Harry said and carried the food from the kitchen into the dining room. When Dudley saw what Harry has cooked he made a face although the potato gratin and the salads didn't look bad at all.

Dudley was still on a diet, but he wasn't as fat as in the previous years. Aunt Petunia meant that it would be good for the health of all of the family members if they only ate meat once a week. Today was one of the remaining six days.

Harry took one portion aside and went into the sitting room to bring it to his Aunt Petunia who laid on the sofa because of her injured back. The accident had happened in the first week of July, when Harry was back at Privet Drive. Since that he had run the whole household, and it was all Dudley's fault.

It seemed incredible, but Dudley really had met a girl. He had started to do weight training to impress her. (As if he hadn't been strong enough before, after all he had practiced thrashing weaker ones all his life.) His parents had bought dumbbells in different weight classes, but most of the time they laid uselessly around on the floor of Dudley's room. Eventually it had happened that Aunt Petunia had stumbled over one of the dumbbells and fell down so unlucky that she injured her spine terribly. Now she could hardly move.

"Here's your lunch," Harry said and put the plate down onto the table to help Aunt Petunia sitting upright.

"Careful! Pay attention!" she shouted. Her face was contorted in pain.

Harry handed her the plate. "If you need something, just call me," he said and went back into the dining room for having lunch.

Uncle Vernon complained a lot about his firm (business was slack at the moment), but when they had finished eating Harry had to help his Aunt to go into the car. She had to go to hospital for checking her spine. She propped herself up on Harry's and Dudley's shoulders.

"Well, Harry," Uncle Vernon said to him. "Don't do any nonsense while we aren't at home."

"Yes, Uncle Vernon", Harry replied. He knew very well that Dudley didn't accompany his parents to the hospital because of his hospital-trauma. The last time when he was there was when Hagrid had given him a tail in his fury. But of course Dudley wasn't directed not to do any nonsense.

"Bye, Dad, 'till later", Dudley said and the boys went back into the house together. Harry started immediately to wash the dishes because they'd hardly clean up on their own and he wasn't permitted to perform any magic during holidays. Dudley was still staring through a window onto the street.

"What is it, Dudley?" Harry asked. His doing-nothing was very unnerving.

"Mum and Dad are gone now", Dudley said and turned around to face his cousin. "I'll meet with Celina now, understood?"

"Really?", Harry asked without looking up from his work.

"Yes," Dudley replied. "And you won't tell Mum and Dad anything about it because they suppose me here while they're not at home."

"And what if I squeal on you? If I do any nonsense it's your fault because you were supposed to do baby-sitting."

"You won't do anything," Dudley said. He seamed to be very confident of victory. "Because you like a free afternoon better than to do what I say, don't you?"

Harry raised his eyes. "What's that supposed to mean? Do you propose a deal to me? I won't do any nonsense and have some leisure time, and in return you will go out with Celina?"

"If you express it that way... The whole thing is full of advantages for you. If you are up to something, it will be all my fault because I wasn't permitted to go out." It seamed that Dudley was fully aware of the consequences.

"Okay." Harry devoted again to the dishes. He didn't believe everything Dudley had said, after all Dudley was his parents' darling and not Harry, but he hadn't planned to do any nonsense.

"Well then," Dudley said, "'till later." And he was out of the door.

Dudley's girlfriend Celina Pryce had moved with her family to Little Whinging only about two weeks ago. They lived at Number One, Privet Drive. As far as Harry could tell, it was love at first sight. Celina looked a bit like Dudley, she could have been Millicent Bullstrode's little sister. She was stout and not the prettiest girl on earth.

At first Harry had been very irritated by Celina because she had shown interest in Harry, too. She had often watched him when he was working in the garden. But since Dudley had asked her to go out with him she had left Harry in peace; and he was glad about it.

When he finally had finished doing the washing-up, he went up into his room. He hadn't had any time for doing his homework yet. He had had to work too much. He opened his potions-book of the last year and leafed through it, when he noticed some magazines Hermione had sent him. He hadn't had time to read them yet.

The muggle magazines were quite interesting. They were about scientists who did research with people who had died or what happened to the mind of somebody who has lost a loved one and so on. This brought back his old pain.

So far Harry hadn't had any time to morn properly. Sometimes he had managed to forget Sirius for a little while. Now these magazines caused him to see everything again in his inner eye. He had never expected the following outburst.

He laid his head down on his arms and let out his pain and his grief. It was the first time that he really cried about his Godfather, and he only cried now because he knew very well that nobody else was at home and nobody could hear him.

He knew that Hermione had meant no harm with these magazines. Harry was glad that she had thought of him. He mustn't forget that Hermione and Ron had known Sirius as well.

Eventually Harry went into the bathroom and cleaned his face with cold water. His inner pain was still there and under no circumstances smaller, but he felt better, a bit stronger as if he was ready now to bring it to an end.

Sirius Black was dead and he couldn't change anything, as well as he couldn't bring back his parents or Cedric Diggory or all the other people who were killed by Voldemort. He had to put up with it and live on.

He went back into his room and saw Hedwig. She had come back some minutes before. Harry noticed the letter on her foot and took it off her. Now he remembered the chestnut owl again. Yesterday evening she had returned with a letter for him, but Harry had been much too tired to read it. The owl had settled down in Hedwig's cage and now the two owls started an owl fight.

Hedwig was furious because of the strange owl that had been in her cage and now she hunted the other one in Harry's room, hooting dangerously.

"Hedwig! Calm down again!" Harry shouted at his owl. Eventually he managed to persuade her to go into her cage while the strange owl settled down on the bedstead of Harry's bed.

First Harry opened Ron's letter, which was very short:

Hey Harry,

I can't tell you much, only that I finally managed to persuade Mum and Dad to do something that you can get away from your relatives. Hope that you can come soon.

Bye, Ron

Immediately Harry took a piece of parchment, ink and his quill to answer him.

Hey Ron,

Thanks for your support, I have to work here like an idiot. (You know, Aunt Petunia.) I'd like to be somewhere else but not here, but not there where ... you know. I don't want to return so soon.

Bye, Harry

Harry knew that he wasn't allowed to write anything into his letters that could be essential for Death Eaters. Because of this he couldn't mention Grimmauld Place. But he was sure that Ron would know what he meant.

He took the letter aside and finally opened the letter of the stranger. It read:

Hey Harry,

Yes, I didn't write a name, and now I'm disappointed by myself. You know, I tried to write that letter several times, and then I've finally found a version that pleased my enough to send it. I'm an idiot. I've forgotten this important part. You really can't know why I know this all and that I'm not a death eater. And I'm writing nonsense again.

Anyhow, I learned about Sirius Black and his past a few days ago. It's a bit complicated. My uncle was in Sirius' year (he was a Ravenclaw) and he said that they knew each other since they were young. But after the sorting into the different houses they made other friends. Sometimes they quarrelled about Quidditch or girls (or both), but my uncle said that he never lost trust in Sirius.

After school they seldom met each other because my uncle and his former girlfriend went to Germany to become Aurors. They also wanted to learn the language and of course they felt much safer there (you know, you-know-who's rise ...).

My uncle came back to the U.K. after war was over and after he had finished his Auror-training. He married a German witch and started working for the ministry in London. This is where he learned about what had happened to Sirius, what had really happened to him. He said that there wasn't much about your Godfather in the newspapers, only about you-know-who and your parents and of course you. But my uncle still confirms again and again that Sirius would never have killed those people.

There were rumours that Sirius Black had a secret residence, and in the end of June my uncle learned about this fight with Bellatrix Lestrange and the other escaped prisoners and the outcome because of his job as Auror. He was shocked.

I know my uncle very well, and he doesn't speak it out loud, but he does feel very sorry that he hadn't had a chance to see him once again.

Actually, my dad forbid me to open letters, and I know he'd rather see that I don't  even write letters any more because you can never know what they really are. (Have you ever heard of muggle letter bombs?)

Sorry, have to go now and I have to finish it, if you are to get it today.

Bye.

Well, Harry was a bit confused now. He had got so many information, but he still didn't know anything concrete about the other person. He knew perfectly about the stranger's family history. Why did they write him?

As he hadn't had to do anything better, he replied.

Hey,

Everything you wrote is true, and it's good to know where you've got your information from. But sorry, I still don't know whether to trust you or not. It seems that you know everything about me and Sirius and I haven't got a clue who you are. Do I even know you?

Harry

He tied the letter onto the foot of the chestnut owl and sent her off. When he stood at the window and gazed after the owl, he suddenly remembered to write to Remus Lupin.

At the end of term he had promised to write every three days a letter. But he had had to work so much that he had overlooked the date. He should have written a letter two days ago!!!

Quickly he sat down again and took his quill when the doorbell rang.

Damn, who could be this now? he thought. Surely it's not a Death Eater, they wouldn't appear here in bright daylight and of course they wouldn't ring the doorbell.

So he ran down the stairs, opened the door and nearly began laughing. He saw Remus Lupin, Mad-Eye Moody and surprisingly Professor Snape standing in front of him, no-one of them looking like pleasing the presence of the other one. Especially Lupin and Snape looked at each other unkindly, as if they were still small boys who hated each other with a passion. And on top of it all they wore wizard's clothes.

"Hurry up! I hope the neighbours haven't seen you," Harry said and stepped aside to let them in. He never would have dreamt of seeing Snape at Privet Drive.

"Harry, what did the muggles do to you that you couldn't write a letter?" Remus Lupin asked, looking very concerned. They all went into the kitchen.

"Oh, nothing, really. My aunt had hurt her spine and now I've to run the whole household on my own. I simply haven't got time to write a letter." Harry looked embarrassed. He felt Snape's gaze in his back and felt very uncomfortable.

"And where are your aunt and uncle now?" Moody asked. He let his magic eye circle around, searching for suspicious items in the house.

"They're in the hospital, my aunt is getting examined," Harry replied truthfully. Snape sneaked through the kitchen and looked around suspiciously, but without touching anything.

Lupin also seemed to be very nervous because of Snape's presence. "Ehem, Harry, is there anything else you want to talk about with us? Because we're here now ..."

"The letter," Harry said without thinking. Suddenly he remembered that he would have liked to keep it a secret.

"What letter, boy?" Moody asked directly.

"A few days ago I've got a letter, but I don't know from who it was. There was nothing threatening or dangerous in it...," Harry said.

"YOU HAVE OPENED IT?!?" Lupin shouted in horror.

"Ehem, yes, it looked harmless," Harry said quietly.

"Do you know that the letter could have been from some Death Eaters?!?" Moody spat a bit, but Harry simply nodded.

"And the Potter I know, will have replied to the letter," Snape suggested maliciously and as if Harry wasn't in the same room. Lupin looked at Snape annoyed, then he looked back at Harry.

"You haven't really ...?" he asked disbelievingly.

Harry swallowed. "I have."

"Argh!!!" Lupin sighed while Moody still let his magic eye circle around and Snape grinned. "You haven't thrown it away, have you?"

"I still have it," Harry said, lucky for having done something right. "I'll fetch it." He ran up into his room and took the first letter. The second one he'd better leave unmentioned.

Back in the kitchen, he handed it to Moody. He unfolded the letter and Snape looked over the old man's shoulder to read. Lupin looked reproachfully at Harry.

"Sorry," Harry mumbled.

Lupin sighed again. "We certainly will take the letter with us to check it, Harry. Maybe we'll find some hints to a Death Eater. It could be dangerous if it was bewitched. So if you get a reply I suppose you not to open it, have you understood, Harry?" He nodded. Snape watched him suspicious as if he knew that Harry had only told them half of the truth.

"Everything okay, Harry?" Moody asked, while he put the letter into his pocket. Harry smiled. "Then we'll set off again, won't we?" he said. Then he turned to Harry. " Order business, you know."

Harry grinned and they all turned back to the front door which suddenly swung open. A totally scared Dudley Dursley and a confused looking Celina Pryce entered.

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A/N: I'm so sorry, but the refreshing of Harry's grief because had to be because he had to bring his pain over Sirius to an end.

A/N 2: It will take me some time to update because school is literally killing me ... Sorry!!!

Next Chapter: We'll see what somebody else is doing in her holidays. Oh, and I nearly forgot: Wizards are still in Number 4, Privet Drive!