Disclaimer: Writing is life…too bad I own nothing and therefore, have none. Don't worry about me though. (Twitches) I'll be fine. (Cries)

A/N: Number 13! Thanks to all the reviewers, I'm glad everyone likes it.

Chapter Thirteen: The Unexpected Memory

The sun was barely in the sky when the nine of them went out in the abyss. The fog surrounded them like a blanket of protection from wandering eyes and it was thanks to this thick fog that the nine of them could fly, unspotted. However grateful they were for the fog, it made a very uneasy flying condition.

"Is this it?" Charlie asked his father as they flew above.

"Looks like it," Mr. Weasley answered. Hermione looked at Ron, who looked at Harry, who looked at Ginny, who looked back to Hermione as they all flew down. The flight down seemed to go on forever. Harry began to wonder if they would ever land. But they did land, right on top of a building.

"There's the portkey!" Fred said, pointing to the old water cooler that sat on the rooftop near them. Mr. Weasley led them all to the cooler.

"Ok kids. We have only a few more minutes until it will be activated. Say goodbye so you can be off." Mrs. Weasley proceeded to hug the four of them, surprisingly without shedding a tear. But Ron and Ginny, as well as the rest, knew it would be coming. "Now. Come now." The four of them turned to the water cooler and in a quick flash of light, they were gone from the roof.

(sc)

"Right on time," Lupin smiled to Alexia as the light landed before them. Harry could tell right away that they were inside the Three Broomsticks. "Come. There is no time to waste." Lupin urged them out the door, before they could say anything to him. Brooms in hand they flew in the somewhat lightened sky.

No one spoke as they flew. When they reached Hogwarts the gates, Hermione opened her mouth to speak but the gates opened wide enough for them to fly through. As soon as Alexia (who was at the end of the pack) went through, the gates shut with a loud thud. Still mounted on their brooms, they flew straight to the main entrance of the school. After seeing Lupin and Alexia demount their brooms, the rest followed suit.

A small light flickered from inside the closed door. It grew closer and closer until it was directly in front of them. "Hello. You are right on time, as I expected. Come in," Dumbledore smiled as he opened the door for them.

(sc)

The place still looked and smelled like Hogwarts, Harry thought to himself as they all followed Dumbledore into the Great Hall. The sun was rising in the ceiling above, a sight that made Harry, Ginny, Ron and Hermione stop in their tracks and look up. They had never had the opportunity to see a sight quite like this before.

"Ah, it is beautiful isn't it?" Dumbledore smiled at them. "As spectacular sight as it is, I'd urge you not to stare too long…the sun does a lot of damage to the eyes." Harry heard Alexia giggle as she and Lupin sat at the table nearby. Within the next few minutes, they were also sitting amongst them, enjoying a breakfast only known to Hogwarts. They spoke to each other as they ate; most was Dumbledore taking up the conversation.

Ron leaned over while Hermione was speaking and whispered something to Harry, in which he responded by shrugging his shoulders.

"If you are wondering," Dumbledore said looking at Ron and Harry a few seconds after, "whether I am the only teacher who stays here, I will assure that I am not. All most always the teachers opt to stay here during the holiday. Some do leave and some come and go, but for most, this is home."

Ron looked at Harry. That was exactly what he had asked. "But I will inform you, that although you are the first students to arrive, you do have restrictions, restrictions that I may assure you will kept. I will also inform you, that I do have a great deal to this summer—and much of it concerning Voldemort. I will need you to avoid the great temptation to wander away from the grounds. Within these walls you are safe, but out of them anything can happen."

His statement made Ginny and Hermione look toward Harry and Ron, who had the same thoughts running through their heads.

(sc)

The four were told that their things were already waiting in the Gryffindor common room. Ron and Harry were sleeping in the room they had always stayed in; Ginny was permitted to stay in Hermione's room, but only for the summer. Harry had no sooner settled into his room and released Hedwig when Ron reminded him that Dumbledore wanted to see him in his office.

(sc)

"Yes Harry. Come in." Harry walked into the Headmaster's hushed office. The room looked as it always had. Fawkes the Phoenix was perched on his stand; the Sorting Hat sat beside the Gryffindor sword on a shelf behind the desk. Lupin sat motioned Harry to sit in the chair beside him. Alexia stood in the empty area to the left of Lupin. All eyes were on him as he sat.

"Well, Harry, there are some matters that we ought to discuss before time runs away with us. I believe that Remus, you had something to make known." Dumbledore meant it as a question but said it as a statement.

"Oh yes." Lupin smiled, trying to hide the exhaustion that now crossed his face. "There is something I need to show you." Lupin pulled a long strand of his memory and pointed it into Dumbledore's pensive. "Come." Lupin led Harry into the swirling memory. Harry's mind was racing; He had never ventured into anyone but Dumbledore and once with Snape.

(sc)

Harry and Lupin were standing in the kitchen of Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place, looking at Lupin and Sirius sitting around the table. Harry was sure he remembered this look that Sirius had…the scowled and furious…the one he had the last two weeks before school. But there he sat with Lupin…very much unhappy and very much alive. Harry could feel tears in his eyes just as he looked at him. But this wasn't the time. Harry listened as the conversation started.

"I know Remus, I know," Sirius laughed a bit as he took a drink of his butterbeer. "There's something I need you to do for me, Moony."

Lupin looked at him. "I'll do everything I can, Padfoot but I can't promise anything."

"There are things, Moony, that I regret. I wasn't there for Harry when I should have been and I never want to live with that again. When I think of all the years that I wallowed in my own unhappiness at Azkaban and I could have been there for Harry…" Sirius looked at Lupin. "If anything happens, I want to be there to help him."

"You know I can't promise you that, Sirius. You're not aloud to leave."

"I know that Moony. Trust me, I know I can't leave this torture chamber."

"Sirius—"

"Don't start Moony. I know ok?" Sirius sighed and straightened up in his chair. Harry looked over at the real Remus Lupin. This had only been a few months before and he now looked so lost and alone. Harry wanted to say something to comfort him but he didn't even know how to comfort himself, let alone Lupin. He focused his attention back to Sirius.

"Remus, listen…I messed up ok? I live with that everyday. When I think of how different life could have been for Harry, for me, for you, for Lily and James, for that rat as much as I hate him…it makes me angry, Moony. You-know-who ruined so many lives and got away with it! I look at Harry now and I know he is hurting. I know he is. But he won't talk to anyone. Hermione has come to me, Ron, Ginny…the entire Weasley family and I can't do anything! I can't even though I want to! Every time I look at that boy, even thought I try not to, I think of his father and the unfairness of it all. I love Harry, Remus. You love Harry…the Weasleys, Dumbledore…so many people, yet he can't come to one of us. Why is that?"

Lupin remained quiet for a brief second. "Because he loves us too. And he thinks if he tells us how he's feeling then we'll be upset by it. He doesn't really know how to handle it either. He lived all those years with no love at all and then in the last four, almost five, years he's been encompassed by it all the time. He's dealt with more than any one person and to Harry; he doesn't want to burden us with it. Everyone has their own problems."

Lupin's words played in Harry's mind. It was as if he took them directly from Harry's own head.

"Yeah. He is stubborn like his father," Sirius smiled then looked solemn again. "Moony, that is why I want to make sure he is taken care of this time. If anything happens to him, I want to help you protect him. And there's something else," Sirius paused as he pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket and laid it on the table between them. "If something happens Moony…if something happens to me, I want you to make sure that Harry gets everything. It's all his—everything I own is for Harry. Make sure that he gets it and don't let those two girls try to take it."

"Narcissa and Bellatrix?" Lupin asked him. Sirius shook his head.

"Yeah, those two. It would be bad for the Order…especially with Kreacher lurking about here and knowing what he knows. Maybe Harry will put him in place one day. And there's something else Moony." Sirius pulled out another piece of parchment and laid it with the first. "Give this to Harry. It's from me and I want him to have it."

Lupin (the real and the one in the memory) and Harry looked down at the paper as if it were tainted. Sirius looked at Lupin. "Promise me Moony." Lupin looked at his friend.

"Nothing is going to happen to you but I promise that I will take care of it." Sirius smiled again and picked up his butterbeer.

"A toast. To James, if only he could be here to help with the mischief." Sirius raised his glass.

"And to Lily, if only she could be here to keep us all from over-reacting." They both said cheers and hit their glasses. In the memory, Harry saw himself and Ron had just entered the kitchen and smiled. The real Harry was thinking about what he just saw when he was pulled back to reality.

(sc)

Lupin had placed a letter into Harry's hands, which was undoubtedly written in Sirius' handwriting. "That will be all for now Harry," Dumbledore said. "Maybe we could finish our discussion around lunch or dinner perhaps? You may go back to your room if you like." Harry did not dispute the idea or even say anything as he left the room, clutching the letter in his shaking hand.

A/N: What to do, what to do? Hmm….review! Another one shortly….thanks for reading!