Chapter Seventeen: Finals and Farewells

As June crept up on us, Harry and the rest of the fifth years had their O.W.L. tests, and the rest of us had our regular end-of-year exams. I was worried, for I had no plans for the summer vacation, and I did not know if I would be allowed to return home to Songsmith for the holidays. When Ginny told me that her mother had okayed me coming to visit for the first couple weeks of holidays, I became so ecstatic that I started jumping up and down, shrieking. Then my summer became complete, as during our last monthly conference with Madame Pomfrey, Grandfather Dumbledore held me back and told me that I'd be spending the summer with him. I again shrieked happily, jumped up, and hugged him tight.

But soon my shrieks of joy turned into tears of pain, for Harry and Company came back from the Ministry with the news that Uncle Sirius was dead. At that moment, I longed to comfort my brother with the knowledge of my existence and presence, but Ginny and Grandfather both told me that the shock of me on top of Sirius's death would shatter him. I had to bide my time, and at this writing he still does not know. (But I hope to tell him soon, because Grandfather is now dead, and he needs all the help he can get from a family member.)