Lost: Young Man, Answers to Harry

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The train journey was a long but uneventful one. Ginny had her fears relieved somewhat by a visit from Fred, George and their friend Lee Jordan, who threw their arms around her and told her about some of their adventures at Hogwarts and how easy things would be for her now that she had them to protect her. Lee nearly sat down on the spot where the vanishing boy had been sitting, but Ron yelled a warning at him, and told him (in a flash of inspiration) that that was where Draco Malfoy had soiled himself the year before. Lee hastily sat on the other side of Ginny.

At last, once the twins and Lee had left to go bother Percy and Ginny was dozing quietly with her mouth hanging open, the train began to slow and came to a stop at the Hogsmeade station. Students poured out onto the platform.

"Come on, Ginny," said Ron, standing over his sister while she yawned and stretched like a lanky kitten. As he stepped out into the corridor, Ron glanced back into the compartment and thought he saw – for the briefest instant – what looked like a sneaker-clad foot, floating in mid air before stepping down onto the floor, then vanishing once more. He shook his head and herded his sister down the corridor.

Out on the platform, he pointed Ginny towards the towering figure of Rubeus Hagrid, then went on by himself. The carriages that took them to the castle were waiting not far away, lacking any apparent horses to pull them. He saw Dean and Seamus get into a carriage with Lavender and Parvarti and decided he didn't really want to join them. He scanned the crowd for another friendly face, and saw Ernie MacMillion, a Hufflepuff he often sat with in class, shutting the door on a second carriage, which pulled away into the night. He looked around for Fred and George, meaning to join them, wherever they were, but they must have already driven away.

The only other carriage left was the one over to his right. Ron saw Neville Longbottom climbing into it, trying to balance his toad on his head as he got in and nearly decapitating the poor thing on the frame of the doorway. Well, Neville wasn't so bad, Ron thought as he headed towards the last carriage.

There had been fresh rain, and the mud beneath his feet was thick and slippery. Ron glanced down to make sure he didn't skid over in a puddle, and noticed, to his surprise, that there were a pair of footprints keeping up with him – but no body to fill them. The footprints were simply appearing out of nowhere, a few feet to Ron's right.

Suddenly they stopped, not far away from the carriage, and Ron heard, very distinctly, a voice say quietly, "what are those horse things?" Then it was suddenly silenced, as if the person who had uttered the words had realised someone was listening to them.

Ron did know what they meant by horse things – there were no horses in sight – but he did not like being followed by a person he couldn't see, be they a death eater, a ghoul or a harmless ghost. He called loudly, "who's there? Come on, show yourself!"

There was no answer. Ron raised a fist at the area where the footsteps had stopped and made a grim face, just so the ghoul knew who they were dealing with. Then Neville called out to him, breaking the silence, "Hi, Ron! You can come in our carriage!"

Ron waved to Neville and climbed into the carriage. The footprints in the mud followed him up to it. Ron left the door open while he sat down, still watching to see what the footprints would do next. As Ron had expected, the carriage tipped slightly as if someone was stepping up into it, so lightly he would not have noticed if he had not been waiting for it. The seat next to Neville sunk slightly, as if someone was sitting on it: but there was, of course, no one in sight.

"What are you waiting for? Close the door," said a sharp voice. Ron turned and saw that he was sitting next to Hermione Granger, her hair looking, if possible, even more bushy than it had the year before, "the carriage won't start until you shut the door," she continued, glaring at him.

"I know that," Ron snapped in reply, and he slammed the door closed. He gritted his teeth, determined not to say something rude to Hermione. She was such an insolent, stuck-up, know-it-all little witch. He refused to even look at her. He kept his eyes on the seat where the unseen person was sitting. He didn't know if they meant any harm yet, but his hand was gripping the wand in his pocket, just in case.

"Did you have a good holiday, Neville?" Hermione asked.

Neville nodded, taking his toad off his head and putting it in his lap, "yeah, Gran and I went to Scotland to visit my first-cousin-once-removed, on my Mum's side. She's a squib, so Gran always feels very sorry for her and goes to see her. But she's very rich, because she writes books."

"Oh, how nice," said Hermione, "did you see anything interesting in Scotland?"

Neville shrugged, "not really, we rented a car and I get very car-sick, so I slept during most of the journeys. But I did see Professor Lupin in Diagon Alley the other day, that was interesting. What about you, Ron?" he asked.

Ron shrugged, "my brother came over from France."

"Oh, really?" Neville's eyes widened, "but wasn't he arrested last year?"

"That's right," Hermione interrupted, "I remember seeing him in the Daily Prophet after he got out, they interviewed him. He was in that protest, the one that got attacked by werewolves."

"Yeah, that was ages ago," Ron replied, trying to restrain a sneer, "he's working for Gringotts now."

Nobody talked for a while. Neville asked Hermione how her holidays had been, and she started talking about some muggle sport called skiiing that she had done with her parents. Ron sat in silence, still staring at the spot where he was quite certain somebody unseen was sitting. Well, he was going to catch them, sooner or later. They couldn't get away from Ron Weasley.

The carriage slowed and bounced to a stop, and the sounds of the other students disembarking met their ears. Neville put his hand to his mouth, looking very green, "ugh, I hate these bumpy rides…"

"Oh, no, Neville, don't be sick…" Hermione cried, and Ron glanced at the other boy. In that brief moment of inattention, the door of the carriage was suddenly thrown open and the carriage bounced as if someone had just jumped out of it. Ron, snarling, leapt out onto the ground, but there was no mud to reveal any footsteps and a huge crowd of Hogwarts students to cover the sound of someone running. The invisible person had got away. Ron swore loudly.

Behind him, Hermione was helping Neville out of the carriage. Neville had not thrown up, but he was still looking pretty green.

"Come on, you'll feel better once you're inside and the feast has started," said Hermione to her friend, leading him up towards the warm glow of the entrance hall. Ron followed them, feeling frustrated and grumpy.

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Ginny, of course, was sorted into Gryffindor, and during the delicious feast that followed, Ron forgot about the invisible person. He sat next to Dean, who seemed to feel guilty about not inviting Ron into their compartment on the train, and the two of them chatted on about their holidays and the abysmal performance of the Moutohoro Macaws, a Quidditch team who had just finished a tour of Britain. Muggleborn Dean was still new to Quidditch, but he seemed to be picking up on the game pretty fast.

Finally the last of the desserts were cleared away and Ron and Dean, both feeling sleepy and full, joined the crowd of students flowing out of the entrance hall. Percy was standing to attention at the entrance to Gryffindor tower, calling the new password to everyone who passed. Some people were settling down in the common room to talk to their friends, but Ron and Dean joined the majority of students who were heading straight to bed.

Their trunks were already at the ends of the four-poster beds, and Ron barely had time to get into his pyjamas before he fell into the bed and pulled the covers over himself. Before his eyes closed, he heard Neville's snores and Dean and Seamus wishing each other goodnight, and then darkness closed over him.

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He was dreaming about the Weird Sisters. They were playing a song in the Hogwarts greenhouses, but it was so loud the glass was shattering and falling all around him, floating down very slowly, like deadly snowflakes. Ron ran towards the singers, trying to tell them to stop playing. The drummer had wild bushy, brown hair, and she was wearing Hogwarts robes and Professor Mcgonagall's glasses. "You've lost your toads and all your horses," she said, "you better go find them. You've lost them." She rapped Ron on the shoulder with her drumstick, and while he was shouting at her that he didn't own any horses, there weren't any horses, because they were invisible horses, the tapping on his shoulder turned to shaking and he awoke with a jolt.

Someone was shaking his shoulder. Ron rolled over, pushing the sheet away from his face. But there was no one there. Still half-asleep, he blinked and rubbed his forehead. He could feel a hand on his shoulder, but obviously, he must be dreaming. There was no one in sight. He couldn't think, he was too tired…

"Can I trust you?" hissed a voice. Ron sat bolt upright, completely awake.

"Who's there?"

"Can I trust you?" repeated the voice, "I'll show myself if you say yes."

Ron's mouth was half-open, staring at the empty air in front of his face from which the mysterious voice was emanating.

"Who are you?" he asked, not bothering to hide the fear in his voice.

There was silence for a moment. Then the voice said, very reluctantly, "my name is Harry Potter."

The named sounded familiar, but Ron was not thinking about names, "you can trust me, you can," he said, "just stop being invisible. It's scary!"

A pause. And then, quite slowly, like a curtain falling away from a window, a boy appeared in front of Ron's eyes, bundling a silvery cloth into his lap. Ron's eyes widened as he recognised an invisibility cloak.

The boy was sitting on Ron's bed, his feet on the ground as if ready to flee, and he had leaned forward a little to shake Ron. He was quite thin and small, and wearing muggle clothes that looked as if they were probably second-hand, or at least very well worn. His hair was black and tangled, and he wore round owl-eyed glasses through which he peered at Ron with troubled eyes. There were deep scars around his right eye.

"Christ," swore Ron, "I remember you. I saw you in Diagon Alley last year – but your hair was different then."

"It was a disguise," the boy explained.

"Yeah, yeah, I guess so," Ron shook his head, "Tonks and my brother Charlie went looking for you, d'you know them? But they came back from France and wouldn't talk about you any more, they just said they'd gone to rescue Lupin. I always thought you must be dead or something."

"My godfather made them promise they'd never tell anyone I was still alive," the boy said sadly, "he wouldn't let me go to Hogwarts. So this year, I snuck onto the train. Thanks for not letting that boy with the dreadlocks sit on me," he added.

Ron shrugged, "well, Lee's a heavy guy. I didn't even know if you were really there or not, I thought I might of imagined you. But what are you doing here? How'd you get into the dormitory?"

"Your brother, the prefect," said Harry, "I just asked him for the password. He was giving it to everyone. I've been hiding under your bed for hours."

"Hey, that's just rude!" Ron looked scandalised, "you could have been a murderer or something!"

"I'm not," Harry shuffled away a little, "I just didn't know where else to go."

"Well, don't go sneaking around like a criminal, for one thing!" Ron growled, "I might've hexed your ears off. You've got a heap of explaining to do, mate. Why the heck are you following me around, for starters?"

Harry shrugged, "I sort of know Charlie, and I remembered you from last year. I just needed somewhere to sleep. I'm so tired," he yawned, "the floor under your bed is really uncomfortable."

Ron glared, then took one of the pillows and thrust it at Harry, "there's a quilt folded up at the end of the bed, you can have that. But you better stay out of sight, and keep your voice down," he added, as Neville snored loudly.

Harry smiled, "thank you."

"It's no problem," muttered Ron, "now you better start talking. Why do you have to sneak into Hogwarts? Why won't your godfather let you come? And why are you so eager not to be seen, anyway?"

Harry smoothed the invisibility cloak in his lap, "I don't really know. That's why I came to Hogwarts, I mean. I don't know why Sirius – my godfather – doesn't want me to come here, all I know is that we've been running and hiding since I was just a little kid. He doesn't even like people to know my name. And it's all something to do with Dumbledore. So I thought, this year, I'm coming to Hogwarts whether he likes it or not, and if he won't tell me the truth – well, I'll just go ask Dumbledore myself, then," Harry's face grew fierce.

Ron listened to this story in silence, "are you going to go find Dumbledore tomorrow?" he asked.

Harry looked a little frightened, "can you help me hide? I don't want anyone to know I'm here, until I've talked to Dumbledore. I thought, maybe you could find him for me?"

Ron made a face, "I don't know how you're going to stay hidden in a school like Hogwarts. Word gets around pretty fast, and there's no where you can just…I dunno, be alone. 'Cept maybe the toilets. But I can't imagine you'd want to hide there," he laughed. He was getting into the swing of things now. He felt like an auror, an undercover spy protecting an escaped prisoner from Death Eaters. It was exciting. Though he knew he should probably go straight to Professor McGonagall, he wanted to help Harry hide. He wanted the boy to be his secret.

Neville gave another loud snore, "anyway, you grab that quilt and get some sleep," Ron shrugged, leaning back onto his side and pulling the covers up, "in the morning we'll see what we can do."

Harry nodded. He took the quilt from the end of the bed and shook the invisibility cloak out, pulling it over himself. Ron listened to him wriggling around under the bed and then settling down. As for himself, he didn't think he'd ever get to sleep knowing he had a mysterious fugitive right underneath him. But before long his eyes drifted closed of their own accord and he remembered nothing more.

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Harry took longer to drift off. He was more comfortable with the warm quilt wrapped around him and the thick, soft pillow under his head. And, goodness knew, he'd slept in worse places than under a bed before – when he was young, and he and Sirius had lived wherever they could, he'd fallen sleep on wooden floors, in doorways, even on tree roots – but never alone, without Sirius' warm arm under hid head.

It seemed like a million years ago that he had left number twelve Grimmauld Place, begging the portrait of Mrs Black not to make a sound, and very surprised when she had obeyed. Hidden under his cloak, carrying a small bag of food and clothes on his back, he had followed Lupin onto a bus and off it again at Kings Cross station. He had watched the DADA teacher step through a brick wall, and after some frantic panic, followed, and found himself faced by a glorious red steam train.

He had nearly lost his nerve, then, and gone running back to Grimmauld Place. The last time he had seen this train, Tonks had been eleven years old and Death Eaters had killed people, all because of Harry. But after nearly being run over by three separate luggage trollies, he had finally struck up the courage to slip onto the train, find an empty compartment, and take off his invisibility cloak. He'd settled down to sleep, but then he had been awoken by a boy asking 'anyone else sitting in here?' and had pulled the cloak back over himself. Then he had recognised the red hair and the long nose, and begun to plan.

Now he bit his lip, wishing he could jump up and go and find Lupin at once. He knew Lupin was in the castle somewhere. Harry felt so lost and bemused, surrounded by so many young witches and wizards his own age, it was like being in a raging river. He needed to hear a familiar voice and see Lupin's comforting smile.

But Lupin would tell Sirius he was here, and Sirius would be at Hogwarts like a shot, and then Harry would never get to talk to Dumbledore. It was frustrating, but whatever he did, he must not let Lupin know he was in the castle, or anyone else who might reveal him. Staying hidden was such a habit anyway that he knew he could easily slip into this new role. And he had Ron to help him.

Ron – Harry still didn't know how far he could trust the boy. He barely knew him, even if he was a brother of Charlie. What if Ron went and told the teachers about Harry? Would Ron really help him find Dumbledore? Harry just didn't know enough about the boy to gauge how he would act. But he wanted to trust Ron. He liked Ron at once. Harry had never wanted to be friends with someone so much before. And he remembered that when he had met Ron in Diagon Alley, the boy had looked at Harry's scars and said 'Wow', and smiled. No one had ever done that before.

He would have to trust Ron. He needed someone who knew their way around Hogwarts, who could show Harry where to go and help him find Dumbledore.

Harry rolled over, but there wasn't much room under the bed and his shoulder kept scraping on the slats that held the mattress up. The invisibility cloak, which was wrapped right over Harry, kept tickling his face and made it kind of hard to breath. He tried to ignore it, focussing on his exhaustion and his need for sleep. He also needed the toilet rather badly, but he could hold on until the morning. And he was so hungry. The food he had put in his bag was not very substantial, so he'd hardly eaten anything since breakfast that morning, with Sirius and Lupin, at Grimmauld Place.

He hoped Sirius was not too furious with him. He had left his Godfather a letter explaining that he was safe and that he could look after himself, but not saying where he was going, though he suspected Sirius would guess pretty quickly. Perhaps Sirius would understand when he read Harry's letter. Ron might even have an owl, so that Harry could send Sirius another letter tomorrow, assuring him that he was not in any danger. Yes, Harry thought, that would be best. His godfather might not agree with Harry, but hopefully when he got a letter he would at least not worry too much.

With this thought, Harry's mind finally drifted away and he fell asleep, the invisibility cloak fluttering as he breathed.

Harry had not seen Kreacher slip into his bedroom in Grimmauld Place. He had not thought to lock the room after he had left. He had not seen Kreacher pick up the letter which he had left on his bed, with Sirius' name printed at the top. He had not seen the house-elf run his bloodshot eyes over the words, processing their meaning even if he could not read very well, then screw the letter up and hobble away, chuckling to himself.

So Harry did not know that Sirius had not got his letter, that Sirius was beside himself with fears for Harry's safety, that he was already preparing to depart in search of his errant godson. Harry slept on, not knowing that he was walking towards the one man his godfather wished him far away from, not knowing that he was making friends who would defend him whatever happened, and that enemies were already mustering who would hunt him wherever he went.

Harry slept on.

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TBC