Disclaimer: I own no part of this story except for the plot and spell work. J. K. Rowling owns everything else, including dozens of hours of my life that I am dedicating to this story.

Author's Note: Sorry for the tardiness in this chapter. It's not quite as long as I'd hoped it would be but time restraints kept me from working as long as I'd hoped I could. Lately, all my time has been devoted into studying for the AP Calculus AB exam which I finally finished today so I hope to get the companion chapter to this section out by tomorrow.

Also, a big thank you to my first and only reviewer Warlord Harrsk. Now, without further ado, here's Chapter 4: Returning from the Dead.

Chapter 4: Returning from the Dead

Hermione walked down the stairs from Harry's room and entered the kitchen where she heard voices. As she entered the room she saw Remus, Dumbledore, Snape, and Sirius sitting at the table chatting. Hermione did a double take as she saw Harry's godfather whom everyone had believed to be dead.

"Sirius? What—how—I thought you were dead—" Hermione said at a rare loss for words.

"Hello Hermione," Sirius said cheerfully.

"But…how?"

"Well Hermione, Sirius has actually been here for nearly two years now. He got here when—" Dumbledore began.

Sirius chuckled at Hermione's disbelief at seeing him alive. He had seen it often enough when everyone else had stared in disbelief at seeing him alive, but it always brought joy to his heart to see how much everyone had missed him. Now, with Hermione knowing, everyone in the Order knew that Sirius was alive, with the exception of Harry of course. Sirius wished that he could tell Harry, but Dumbledore had forbid him from telling him for the past two years. All Dumbledore had told Sirius was that Harry's survival depended upon Sirius being presumed dead. "When the time is right, we will reveal you to Harry," Dumbledore had told him.

"Well, it was nearly too late for Harry to find out about me." Sirius thought. Sirius had been brooding ever since Harry was nearly killed. "If only Dumbledore had let me help guard Harry. Then maybe both boys would be alive." Sirius remembered when he had asked Dumbledore if he could be part of the guard to watch over Harry while he was on that suicide mission. Dumbledore had steadfastly refused to let Sirius help guard Harry. "Sirius, if something goes wrong, he cannot see you. He will be completely vulnerable to Voldemort with his happiness at seeing you alive." Sirius knew that Dumbledore had been right, but that hadn't kept Harry from being nearly killed anyway.

Sirius was jolted back to reality as he heard laughter fill the room. He turned to where Dumbledore was telling Hermione how Sirius was alive.

"—and the next thing we knew Hermione," Dumbledore said with a slight chuckle, "Sirius was outside our door wagging his tail happily."

"Padfoot Strikes Back! Sounds like a great title for a movie." Remus said with a smile.

"Just watch yourself Moony, knowing me it will have to be a comedy. You might just find yourself 'howling' with laughter."

Remus winced at the lame joke and its implications, but laughed with everyone else all the same.

"Sirius this is great! I know that Harry's going to be so happy to see you. He's missed you a lot you know."

"Too bad he's still going to miss me even more." Sirius said with a downtrodden look on his face.

"What? You mean that Harry can't know?" Hermione said, a touch of anger entering her voice.

"Now Hermione," Dumbledore began, "it is important that you understand this. Harry will be soon be going through some things that will be extremely difficult for him to overcome. He feels overcome by the burden that he must bear, and it will be up to you, and the rest of Harry's friends, to keep him from falling into the temptation of leaving you all behind. Remember, Harry is only as strong as the bonds of friendship that hold him together are."

Hermione, remembering what Harry had just finish saying, was again amazed by Dumbledore's knowledge of what was going to happen.

"If Harry finds out that Sirius is alive, he will not make his own decision, but just remain who he is so that he might be able to be with Sirius. Harry must make his own choice whether he wants to live the life he is following or seclude himself in order to protect others at a great cost to himself. This war may hang in the balance of his choice, but we cannot force him to make a decision that is not truly his."

"Yes sir, Professor Dumbledore. I would have stayed with Harry no matter what, even if he tried to leave me behind." Hermione said turning to walk out the door.

"I know Miss Granger—you, Harry, and Ron share bonds that cannot be broken. Unfortunately, you must remember that, you never saw Sirius today and, as far as you know, he is dead."

"Yes sir." Hermione said with a slight grimace on her face.

"Hermione," Sirius said in a slightly pleading voice, "I'll be gone by the time Harry is able to leave his room so please watch after him for me. I can't stand being away from him, but at least I know that you will keep him safe."

"Of course I will Sirius, someone has got to keep Harry out of trouble." Hermione said with a mischievous smile as she ran and gave him a quick hug.

"Why don't you go and get something to eat now Hermione, I believe that it has been quite a few hours since the last time you ate." Dumbledore said with a twinkle in his eye.

A loud rumbling filled the room. Everyone turned and, instead of looking at Hermione, stared at Dumbledore.

Dumbledore unabashedly said, "Well, perhaps all of us should get a bite to eat. It seems that I must have missed a few meals too."

With this, the entire group just burst into laughter.

The next day Harry awoke to see Hermione asleep in the chair next to him.

He smiled knowing that Hermione would stay here until he was ready, no matter how long that is. However, the real world kept Harry from hiding any longer.

"There is a war going on outside, one in which my best friend died in. Here I am sitting inside resting, while others are risking their lives, like Ron did, trying to save the lives of others."

Harry knew he had to go back, he was too important. With all of his heart he wanted to remain hidden, away from the death and pain that war provided, but he had to fight. He would not let Voldemort win this war, and he would not give Voldemort the satisfaction of knowing that Harry had given up and needed a break from the reality of war. Harry knew it was time to go back to Fudge, back to the Aurors.

He looked over at Hermione's sleeping form and once again marveled at her strength.

"I couldn't have made it to this decision without her. She looked after me when I needed her the most, regardless of her own grief. People marvel at me for slaying a basilisk or constantly defying Voldemort, but it is people like Hermione that keep this war going. She fights, even when there is no fight left in her. She is what I wish that I could always be."

Harry had no doubts that he would always fight Voldemort, but he did doubt his resolve as the deaths of countless individuals began to grind him down. Their deaths were his fault; such was the curse of the life that he lived. However, Harry knew that, given a choice, he would still have stepped up to defeat Voldemort, with or without the prophecy. Harry's thoughts were disturbed as Hermione stirred and woke up.

"Good morning sunshine," Harry said happily.

"Well aren't you chipper this morning." Hermione said trying to seem miserable but failing just as bad.

The two dissolved into laughter and the tension between the two since Ron's death evaporated.

Hermione was glad that Harry had finally cured himself of his self-imposed troubles.

"I had expected to have to go up here and give him more support, but it looks like he's okay now."

"Hermione, we need to talk."

Hermione merely nodded knowing that Harry would soon be telling her that he wanted her to leave and no longer be a part of his life, just he had Ginny. He was trying to protect them, but he was merely dooming himself to failure. She opened her mouth to argue with what he was surely thinking but Harry cut her off.

"Wait just a second Hermione, and then you can say whatever you want."

Hermione merely nodded and waited for the inevitable to happen.

"Hermione, first I want to thank you again for all you have done for me over the past few days. Without your help I could have never come to this decision. I would have been lost and would probably have made a choice that would have resulted in both of our deaths."

Hermione grimaced as she heard the word 'both' and knew that Harry was going to tell her that it was best for her if she no longer was a part of his life. This way Harry might die, but Hermione would live.

"Hermione, I think that it's time for me to go back to the Aurors. They need me and I can't let them fight this war without all the help that they can get. However, I can't fight Voldemort without all of the help I can get. I need you, and the rest of my friends, to be with me as I fight. I need the hope that I get from being with friends to help me remember what I am fighting for. I need friends to stand by my side, even at the bitter end, who will go to the ends of the world for me, as I would do for them. Please Hermione, I know that you may not want to go back to the Aurors, but they need you, and so do I."

Hermione was caught off guard by the sincerity of his words and couldn't find the words to say what she wanted to. Harry had matured so much since their years at Hogwarts and he seemed to have accumulated a vast amount of knowledge since Ron's death. Harry was the epitome of the hero of the light side. While it was true that Harry had always been this hero, it was now that Harry fully suited for the role that he had been awarded seventeen long years ago.

"Harry, words cannot express how proud I am of you. I expected you to try and isolate yourself in order to try and save me, as well as the rest of your friends, but you have an outlook on a much grander scale than would be expected of someone your age. I have seen you transform from a frightened First Year, who had never even seen magic before, to the champion of the light that stands before me now. We will be friends until the end, and I will be standing by you when it comes time for you to defeat Voldemort once and for all."

The two friends embraced one another and marveled at the complexity of life and how they had changed over the past seven years.

On the other side of the slightly open door, Albus Dumbledore whispered quietly.

"And I can be no prouder of the two of you than I am right now."

Sirius Black could only smile and nod his head as he looked at his godson in a way he had never expected to.

Shortly after Sirius departed in secret, Hermione and Harry came down from his room for the first time. As the young friends walked down the stairs, there seemed to be something slightly different about them. Tonks was watching the two and it seemed as if the two were exhibiting more self-confidence than could be believed of two so young. Tonks couldn't help but see Harry in a new light as he seemed to be the symbol of their fight and the hero to get it all done.

"They seemed to have matured several lifetimes in the span of just a few days." Tonks thought with a smile creeping across her face.

"Morning Harry! It's about time that you finally got out of bed." Tonks joked as the two approached her.

"Good morning Nymphadora." Harry said with a smile playing across his lips as he said Tonks' full name.

"Harry you know I hate that. Who the bloody hell would name their child Nymphadora?" Tonks said with a slight scowl. "However, I guess that it is not as bad as Lucius Fugmuffins Malfoy or whatever the bugger called himself. Wouldn't fancy that name or, for that matter, being him right now." Tonks' scowl suddenly turned into a cocky grin.

"So what did happen to those captured Death Eaters?" Harry asked.

"Well, lets just say that they are a little 'tied up' with all the work they have to do in the Ministry; something about having to clean up the Auror's department daily."

At this the three burst into laughter. "My desk has been quite a bit messier since they've come to clean up. Come to think of it, I'm actually one of the cleaner ones." Tonks said with an evil grin.

Harry smiled at the thought of how much hell the Aurors had to be putting the captured Death Eaters through.

"Last week we had an episode with stinksap covering half of the room. Took them forever to clean that one up without wands."

"Stinksap? Were Fred and George Weasley involved?" Harry said with a smile.

"Spot on Harry. I don't know if I have ever seen Arthur look so proud with one of their jokes. The two made quite a few sales there until Fudge showed up and made them leave."

The group laughed out loud until Tonks said, "Well Harry I've got to get to work, but everyone else is eating in the kitchen if you would like to join them."

"Thanks Tonks, we'll see you later. Give Malfoy hell for me."

Tonks gave him an evil grin as she walked out the door.

Harry and Hermione walked through the entrance hall and into the kitchen. Sitting at the tables were Remus, Dumbledore, Snape, and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. Harry noticed that Mrs. Weasley was looking a lot thinner than she had been last time he had seen her.

"Morning Harry, nice of you to finally get out of bed." Remus said with a smile.

"Morning everyone, what's for breakfast?" Harry replied.

"Bacon, eggs, and toast are sitting on the stove Harry." Mrs. Weasley said plainly.

Harry noticed that Mrs. Weasley was strangely distant with him. In fact, Harry couldn't ever think of Mrs. Weasley asking him to get his own breakfast when she was perfectly able to. Harry sensing this was about Ron's death hesitantly brought the subject up.

"Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, I am really sorry about Ron. I wish…I mean…I'm sorry that it's my fault he died unnecessarily.

"HOW DARE YOU INSULT THE MEMORY OF MY SON! I CAN'T BELIEVE THAT YOU WOULD EVER MAKE SUCH A SNIDE COMMENT…" Mrs. Weasley cried outraged.

"Wait…Mrs. Weasley…I wasn't insulting Ron I was just…" Harry tried to respond, but Mrs. Weasley cut him off.

"ACTING AS IF MY SON WAS STUPID FOR SACRIFICING HIMSELF FOR HIS BEST FRIEND. I WOULD NEVER HAVE THOUGHT THAT YOU WOULD EVER SAY SOMETHING LIKE THIS AND …"

Mrs. Weasley said growing redder and redder in the face. Harry was now quite sure that he knew how Fred and George felt when they were caught in their practical jokes. Harry was just about to apologize again when Mr. Weasley cut in.

"Molly, calm down this instant!" Mr. Weasley said in a loud voice, "You know as well as I do that Harry was not saying Ron did something that wasn't necessary. He was just trying to console you and his words got twisted around. He was trying to help you and look at what he got in return. Two days ago we told Hermione that she and Harry were like family. Have you already forgotten this?"

Mr. Weasley continued in a much softer tone, "Have you forgotten that this is the boy that was Ron's best friend, saved Ginny from Voldemort, and would have put his life on the line for any of our family?"

Mrs. Weasley's angry face dissolved into horror as she realized that she had alienated someone who she loved like a son. Words could not fix the situation she had gotten herself into, but actions speak louder than words ever could. Mrs. Weasley wordlessly wrapped Harry in a hug.

As she held on tight, Mrs. Weasley wiped away a tear and silently prayed, "May Ron rest in peace and let him know that I will always be watching over Harry, who he treated like a brother; that I now treat as a son. I hope against hope that I will not also lose this son to this horrible war."